A WOMAN'S 
HARDY GARDEN 




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FROM A W/-_TER GOL.OR SKETCH 3Y 
GEORGE B 3Ar?TH01.0MEW 



A WOMAN'S 
HARDY GARDEN 



BY y 

HELENA RUTHERFURD ELY 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS TAKE: 

IN THE author's GARDEN 

BY 

PROFESSOR C. F. CHANDLER 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON : MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 

1903 

All rights reserved 






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THE LIBRARY OF 1 


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Copyright, 1903, 
By The Macmillan Company 



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J. Horace McFarland Company 
Harrisburg, Peansylvania 



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DeDication 



TO THE BEST FRIEND OF MY GARDEN, 

WHO, WITH HEART AND HANDS, 

HAS HELPED TO MAKE IT 

WHAT IT IS 



PREFACE 

^THHIS little book is only meant to tell 
briefly of a few shrubs, hardy perennials, 
biennials and annuals of simple culture. I 
send it forth, hoping that my readers may 
find within its pages some help to plant 
and make their gardens grow. 

Meadowburn Farm 
October, 1902 



Vll 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER ^^^^ 

I. Introduction ..... 2 

II. Hardy Gardening and Preparation of 

the Soil 9 

III. Laying Out a Garden and Borders Around 

a House . . • • .17 

IV. How to Plant a Small Plot . . 35 

V. The Seed-bed 55 

VI. Planting 63 

VII. Annuals . . , • • -75 
VIII. Perennials . . ... 91 

IX. Biennials and a Few Bedding - out 

Plants 115 

X. Roses 123 

XI. Lilies 137 

XII. Spring -flowering Bulbs . . .147 

XIII. Shrubs 157 

XIV. Water, Walks, Lawns, Box-Edgings, Sun- 

dial and Pergola . . • .169 

XV. Insecticides. Tool -room . . .187 

XVI. Conclusion . . . . • .^01 

ix 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FACING 



Rose arch and garden walk . . Frontispiece 

From a water -color sketch made by George D. 
Bartholomew 

Garden gate, with Japanese gourds 
September twenty-ninth 

Broad grass walk ...... 

August twenty-fifth 

A shady garden walk ..... 
May thirty-first 

Asters blooming in a border .... 
September fifteenth 

A clump of Valerian 

June sixth 

Rhododendron maximum and Ferns along north 
side of house, with Ampelopsis VeitcJiii . 
July fourth 

Arch over Rose-walk covered with Golden 
Honeysuckle and Clematis pankidata . 
September fifteenth 

Rhododendron maximum under a cherry tree 
July fourth 



12 



16 



19 



23 



30 



XI 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Vase of Delphinium (Perennial Larkspur) 
June twenty-first 

Vase of Peonies 
June sixth 

Lilium speciosum riibrum . 
September fifteenth 

Vase of Altheas 

September sixteenth 

Planting on the edge of lawn . 
August second 

Asters in rows for picking 
August twenty-fifth 



PAGE 

33 



39 



42 



48 



51 



55 



Foxgloves — seedlings ready for final transplanting 58 
September twenty-ninth 

Long grass walk, with Narcissus Poetkus blooming 
in the border . . . . . .62 

April twenty-sixth 

Long grass walk, with Peonies in the border . 65 
June sixth 

Long grass walk, with Foxgloves blossoming in 
the border ....... 67 

June thirteenth 

Long grass walk, with Hydrangeas; Rudbeckias 
in background . . . . . .78 

August twenty-fifth 



xn 



LIST or ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING 
PAGE 

A single plant of Asters . . . . .80 

September tenth 

Poppies growing in rows . . ... 83 

July fourteenth 

A bowl of Cosmos . . . . . .87 

September twenty-ninth 

A mass of Phlox; Rudbeckias in the background 90 

August second 

Hollyhocks in blossom . . . . .94 

July twelfth 

A single plant of Delphinium (Perennial Larkspur) 97 
June twenty-first 

Yuccas in blossom . . . . . . 103 

July twelfth 

Bed of Peonies, on edge of lawn . . .106 

June sixth 

A single plant of Phlox . . . . .112 

August twenty-fifth 

Vase of Canterbury Bells . . . .115 

June twenty-first 

A single plant of Foxgloves, White Sweet 

William in front 119 

June thirteenth 

Vase of Foxgloves . . . . . .122 

June fourteenth 

xiii 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING 
PAGE 

Summer-house covered with Clematis and Crimson 
Rambler Roses . . . . . .126 

June twenty-first 

Rose-bed carpeted with Pansies . . .129 

June twenty-first 

Canterbury Bells blooming in a border . .133 

June twenty-first 

IJliuni auratum growing behind Peonies and 
Columbines that bloomed earlier . . .140 

August tenth 

Vase of Lilmrn auratum . . . . .144 

August second 

Vase of Lilium speciosum album and ruhrum . 147 
September sixth 

Garden arch, covered with Japanese Gourds . 151 

August twenty-seventh 

Vase of Phlox; single blossoms actual size . 154 

August second 

Spiraea Van Houttei . . . . .158 

May thirty-first 

Hydrangea pankulata grandiflora . . .161 

August twenty-sixth 

Vase of Hydrangea pankulata grandiflora . 165 

September tenth 

xiv 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Vase of double Hardy Sunflowers {Helianthus j 

muU'iflorus plenus) ..... 172 ] 

September fifteenth j 

Vase of Monkshood ..... 176 \ 

September thirtieth 1 

Sun-dial in center of formal garden . . 179 \ 
August second 

The Pergola (first summer) . . . .190 

August twenty-fifth \ 

Tritoma (Red-Hot Poker Hant) ... 197 ! 

September twenty-eighth j 

Bringing in the flowers . . . . . 204} 

September sixth \ 



xv 



INTRODUCTION 



CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION I 

TOVE of flowers and all things green and 

"^■^^ growing is with many men and women ; 
a passion so strong that it often seems to be a 
sort of primal instinct, coming down through 

generation after generation, from the first man \ 

who was put into a garden "to dress it and to ] 

keep it." People whose lives, and those of \ 

their parents before them, have been spent in ; 

dingy tenements, and whose only garden is a ' 

rickety soap-box high up on a fire-escape, share i 

this love, which must have a plant to tend, j 

with those whose gardens cover acres and ] 

whose plants have been gathered from all the j 

countries of the world. How often in summer, i 

when called to town, and when driving through ] 

the squalid streets to the ferries or riding on i 

the elevated road, one sees these gardens of \ 

3 j 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

the poor. Sometimes they are only a Gera- 
nium or two, or the gay Petunia. Often a 
tall Sun-flower, or a Tomato plant red with 
fruit. These efforts tell of the love for the 
growing things, and of the care that makes 
them hve and blossom against all odds. 
One feels a thrill of sympathy with the 
owners of the plants, and wishes that some 
day their lot may be cast in happier places, 
where they too may have gardens to tend. 

It has always seemed to me that the punish- 
ment of the first gardener and his wife was the 
bitterest of all. To have hved always in a 
garden "where grew every tree pleasant to the 
sight and good for food," to have known no 
other place, and then to have been driven forth 
into the great world without hope of returning! 
Oh! Eve, had you not desired wisdom, your 
happy children might still be tilling the soil of 
that blessed Eden. The first woman longed 
for knowledge, as do her daughters of to-day. 
When the serpent said that eating of the for- 
bidden fruit would make them "as gods," what 

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INTRODUCTION 

wonder that Eve forgot the threatening com- 
mand to leave untouched the Tree of Life, 
and, burning to be "wise," ate of the fateful 
apple and gave it to her Adam ? And then, to 
leave the lovely place at the loveliest of all 
times in a garden, the cool of the day! Faint 
sunset hues tinting the sky, the night breeze 
gently stirring the trees. Lilies and Roses 
giving their sweetest perfume, brilliant Venus 
mounting her accustomed path, while the 
sleepy twitter of the birds alone breaks the 
silence. Then the voice of wrath, the Cheru- 
bim, the turning flaming sword ! 

Through trials and tribulations and hardly 
learned patience, I have gained some of the 
secrets of many of our best hardy flowering 
plants and shrubs. Many friends have asked 
me to tell them when to plant or transplant, 
when to sow this or that seed, and how to 
prepare the beds and borders ; in fact, this 
has occurred so often that it has long been 
in my mind to write down what I know of 
hardy gardening, that other women might be 

5 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

helped to avoid the experiments and mistakes 
I have made, which only served to cause 
delay. 

But just this "please write it down," while 
sounding so easy and presenting to the mind 
such a fascinating picture of a well-printed, 
vv^ell- illustrated and prettily bound book on 
the garden, is quite a different matter to one 
who has never written. When you diffidently 
try to explain the chaos in your brain, family 
and friends say, "Oh! never mind; just begin." 
That often -quoted "premier pas T' 

To - day is the first snow - storm of the 
winter, and, while sitting by the fireside, my 
thoughts are so upon my garden, wondering 
if this or that will survive, and whether the 
plants remember me, that it seems as though 
to-day I could try that first dreaded step. 

Living all my life, six months and some- 
times more of each year, in the country, — real 
country on a large farm, — I have from child- 
hood been more than ordinarily interested in 
gardening. Surrounded from babyhood with 

6 



INTRODUCTION 

horses and dogs, my time as a little girl was 
spent out of doors, and whenever I could es- 
cape from a patient governess, whose eyes 
early became sad because of the difficulties 
of her task, I was either riding a black pony 
of wicked temper, or was to be found in 
a lovely garden with tall Arborvitse hedges 
and Box -edged walks, in the company of an 
old gardener, one of my very best friends, who 
for twenty years ruled master and mistress, 
as well as garden and graperies. Under this 
old gardener, I learned, even as a child, to 
bud Roses and fruit trees, and watched the 
transplanting of seedlings and making of slips ; 
watched, too, the trimming of grape-vines, 
fruit trees and shrubs ; so that while still very 
young I knew more than many an older per- 
son of practical garden work. Then, as I 
grew older, the interests of a gay girl, and, 
later, the claims of early married life and the 
care of two fat and fascinating babies, ab- 
sorbed my time and thoughts to the exclu- 
sion of the garden. But as the babies grew 

7 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

into a big boy and girl, the garden came to 
the front again, and, for more than a dozen 
years now, it has been my joy, — joy in sum- 
mer when watching the growth and bloom, 
and joy in winter when planning for the 
spring and summer's work. There is pleasure 
even in making lists, reading catalogues of 
plants and seeds, and wondering whether this 
year my flowers will be like the pictured 
ones, and always, in imagination, seeing how 
the sleeping plants will look when robed in 
fullest beauty. 



HARDY GARDENING AND THE 
PREPARATION OF THE SOIL 



CHAPTER II 

HARDY GARDENING AND THE PREPARATION 
OF THE SOIL 

TT has not been all success. I have had to 
learn the soil and the location best suited 
to each plant; to know when each bloomed 
and which lived best together. Mine is a 
garden of bulbs, annuals, biennials and hardy 
perennials; in addition to which there are 
Cannas, Dahlias and Gladioli, whose roots 
can be stored, through the winter, in a cellar. 
All the rest of the garden goes gently to 
sleep in the autumn, is well covered up 
about Thanksgiving time, and slumbers 
quietly through the winter; until, with the first 
spring rains and sunny days, the plants seem 
fairly to bound into life again, and the never- 
ceasing miracle of nature is repeated before 
our wondering eyes. 

11 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

I have no glass on my place, not even a 
cold-frame or hot-bed. Everything is raised 
in the open ground, except the few bedding 
plants mentioned whose roots are stored 
through the winter. Therefore, mine can 
truly be called a hardy garden, and is the 
only one I know at all approaching it in 
size and quantity of flowers raised, where 
similar conditions exist. 

I have observed that, with few exceptions, 
the least success with hardy perennials is 
found in the gardens of those of my friends 
whose gardeners are supposed to be the best, 
because paid the most. These men will grow 
wonderful Roses, Orchids, Carnations, Grapes, 
etc., under glass, and will often have fine 
displays of Rhododendrons. But to most of 
them the perennial or biennial plant, the old 
friend blossoming in the same place year 
after year, is an object unworthy of cultiva- 
tion. Their souls rejoice in the bedding-out 
plant, which must be yearly renewed, and 
which is beautiful for so short a time, dying 

12 




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HARDY GARDENING 

with the early frost. I was astounded last 
summer on visiting several fine places, where 
the gardeners were considered masters of their 
art, to see the poor planting of perennials and 
annuals. I recall particularly two Italian 
gardens, perfectly laid out by landscape gar- 
deners, but which amounted to nothing be- 
cause the planting was insufficient, — here a 
Phlox, there a Lily, then a Rose, with per- 
haps a Larkspur or a Marigold, all rigidly 
set. out in single plants far apart, with noth- 
ing in masses, and no colour effects. 

To attain success in growth, as well as in 
effect, plants must be so closely set that 
when they are (J^veloped no ground is to be 
seen. If so placed, their foliage shades the 
earth, and moisture is retained. In a border 
planted in this way, individual plants are far 
finer than those which, when grown, are six 
inches or a foot apart. 

First of all in gardening, comes the prepa- 
ration of the soil. Give the plants the food 
they need and plenty of water, and the 

13 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

blessed sunlight will do the rest. It is v/on- 
derful what can be done with a small space, 
and how from April to November there can 
always be a mass of bloom. I know of one 
woman's garden, in a small country town, — 
house and ground only covering a lot hardly 
fifty by one hundred feet, — where, with the 
help of a man to work for her one day in 
the week and perhaps for a week each spring 
and fall, she raises immense quantities of 
flowers, both perennials and annuals. For six 
months of the year she has always a dozen 
vases fuU in the house, and plenty to give 
away. More than half the time her Httle 
garden supplies flowers for the church, while 
others in the same village owning large places 
and employing several men "have really no 
flowers." 

I remember returning once from a two 
wxeks' trip, to find that my entire crop of 
Asters had been destroyed by a beetle. It 
was a horrid black creature about an inch long, 
which appeared in swarms, devoured all the 

14 



HARDY GARDENING 

plants and then disappeared, touching noth- 
ing else. Such a thing had never before hap- 
pened in my garden. One of the men had 
sprayed them with both slug -shot and kero- 
sene emulsion to no effect, — and so no Asters. 
My friend with the little garden heard me 
bemoaning my loss, and the next day sent 
me, over the five intervening miles, a hamper 
— almost a small clothes-basket — full of the 
beautiful things. It quite took my breath 
away. I wondered how she could do it, and 
thought she must have given me every one 
she had. Yet, upon driving over in hot haste 
to pour out thanks and regrets, lo! there were 
Asters all a -blow in such quantities in her 
garden that it seemed as if none had been 
gathered. 

Except by the sea -coast, our dry sum- 
mers, with burning sun and, in many places, 
frequent absence of dew, are terribly hard 
on a garden; but with deep, rich soil, and 
plenty of water and proper care, it will yield 
an almost tropical growth. Therefore, when- 

15 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

ever a bed or border is to be made, make it 
right. Unless one is willing to take the 
trouble properly to prepare the ground, there 
is no use in expecting success in gardening. 
I have but one rule : stake out the bed, and 
then dig out the entire space two feet in 
depth. Often stones will be found requiring 
the strength and labor of several men, with 
crowbars and levers, to remove them ; often 
there will be rocks that require blasting. 
Stones and earth being all removed, put a 
foot of well -rotted manure in the bottom; 
then fill up with alternate layers, about four 
inches each, of the top soil, taken out of the 
first foot dug up, and of manure. Fill the 
bed or border very full, as it will sink with 
the disintegration of the manure. Finish off 
the top with three inches of soil. Then it is 
ready for planting. If the natural soil is stiff 
or clayey, put it in a heap and mix with one- 
fourth sand, to lighten it, before returning to 
the bed. Thus prepared, it will retain mois- 
ture, and not pack and become hard, 

16 



LAYING OUT A GARDEN AND 
BORDERS AROUND THE HOUSE 







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CHAPTER HI 

LAYING OUT A GARDEN AND BORDERS AROUND 
THE HOUSE 

PERPLEXITIES assail a would-be gar- 
dener on every side, from the day it is 
decided to start a garden. The most attrac- 
tive books on the subject are English; and 
yet, beyond the suggestions for planting, and 
the designs given in the illustrations, not 
much help is to be derived in this latitude 
from follovi^ing their directions. In England 
the climate, which is without great extremes 
of heat and cold, and the frequent rains, with 
the soft moist atmosphere, not only enable 
the English gardener to accomplish what 
would be impossible for us, but permit him 
to grow certain flowers out of doors that 
here must be housed in the winter. Daffo- 
dils and Narcissi bloom in England, near the 

19 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

coast, at the end of February and early in 
March, — Lihes-of-the- Valley in March. Many 
Koses live out of doors that would perish 
here during our winters. Gardening opera- 
tions are begun there much earlier than in this 
part, at least, of the United States, and many 
of the methods for culture differ from those 
employed here. In England there is excess 
of moisture; therefore, care in securing good 
drainage is essential, while here, except in 
low places near streams, special provision for 
drainage is rarely necessary. It is more im- 
portant to have a deep, rich preparation of 
the soil, so that plants may not be dried out. 
A serious part of the gardener's work during 
the average summer consists in judicious 
watering of the garden. 

One writer will say that this or that plant 
should have sun, another that it does best 
in the shade. One advocates a rich soil, an- 
other a light sandy soil; so that after all, in 
gardening, as in all else in life, experience is 
the best teacher, either your own or that of 

20 



LAYING OUT A GARDEN 

others who have already been successful under 
similar conditions. 

A garden is almost sure to be gradually 
increased in size, and its capacity limited only 
by the grounds of the owner and his pocket- 
book. The possibilities and capabilities of a 
couple of acres are great, and will give the 
owner unlimited pleasure and occupation. 

Individuality is one of the most marked of 
American characteristics; hence, in making a 
place, whether it is big or little, the tastes 
and individuality of the owner will generally 
direct his efforts, and no hard and fast rules 
can be given. 

In starting a garden, the first question, of 
course, is where to plant. If you are a be- 
ginner in the art, and the place is new and 
large, go to a good landscape gardener and 
let him give advice and make you a plan. 
But don't follow it; at least not at once, nor 
all at one time. Live there for a while, until 
you yourself begin to feel what you want, 
and where you want it. See all the gardens 

21 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

and places you can, and then, when you know 
what you want, or think you do, start in. 

The relation of house to grounds must 
always be borne in mind, and simplicity in 
grounds should correspond with that of the 
house. A craze for Italian gardens is seizing 
upon people generally, regardless of the archi- 
tecture of their houses. To my mind, an 
Italian garden, with its balustrades, terraces, 
fountains and statues, is as inappropriate foi 
surrounding a colonial or an ordinary country 
house as would be a Louis XV drawing- 
room in a farm-house. 

What is beautiful in one place becomes 
incongruous and ridiculous in another. Not 
long ago, a woman making an afternoon visit 
asked me to show her the gardens. Daintily 
balancing herself upon slippers with the high- 
est possible heels, clad in a costume appro- 
priate only for a fete at Newport, she strolled 
about. She thought it all "quite lovely" and 
"really, very nice," but, at least ten times, 
while making the tour, wondered "Why in 

22 



LAYING OUT A GARDEN 

the world don't you have an Itahan garden?" 
No explanation of the lack of taste that such 
a garden would indicate in connection with 
the house, had any effect. The simple, formal 
gardens of a hundred years ago, with Box- 
edged paths, borders and regular Box-edged 
beds, are always beautiful, never become 
tiresome, and have the additional merit of 
being appropriate either to the fine country- 
place or the simple cottage. 

For a small plot of ground, like the one 
before mentioned, the plan of which is on 
page 24, the matter is simple, because of the 
natural limitations. I love to see a house 
bedded, as it were, in flowers. This is par- 
ticularly suitable for the usual American 
country house, colonial in style, or low and 
rambling. Make a bed perhaps four feet 
wide along three sides of the house, — south, 
east and west. Close against the house plant 
the vines. Every one has an individual taste 
in vines, — more so, perhaps, than in any other 
ornamental growth. If the house be of stone, 




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LAYING OUT A GARDEN 

and the climate not too severe, nothing is 
more beautiful than the English Ivy. It 
flourishes as far north as Princeton, New 
Jersey. I have never grown it, fearing it 
would be winter -killed. 

Ampelopsis Veitchii, sometimes called Bos- 
ton Ivy, grows rapidly, clinging closely to the 
•wall and turning a dark red in the autumn, 
and is most satisfactory. 

The Virginia Creeper, and the Trumpet 
Creeper, with its scarlet flowers, are both beau- 
tiful, perfectly hardy, and of rapid growth. 
All of these vines cling to stone and wood, 
and, beyond a little help for the first two or 
three feet, need not be fastened to the house. 
Care must be taken to prevent the vines 
growing too thickly to admit sun and air to 
the house. 

If the house be of wood, the question of 
repainting must be considered. Both the 
White and the Purple Wistaria, which can be 
twined about heavy wire and fastened at the 
eaves, Kambler Roses and Honeysuckles may 

25 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

be grown. They can be laid down, to per- 
mit painting. But, if the house be of wood 
and well covered with vines, put off the evil 
day of painting until it can be deferred no 
longer, and then have it done early in l^o- 
vember. Never, never permit it to be done 
in the spring, or before November, unless 
you would take the risk of killing the vines 
or of losing at least a season's growth. The 
house surrounded by my gardens is colonial, 
something over a hundred and fifty years old, 
stern and very simple. Tall locusts, towering 
above the roof, and vines that cover it from 
ground to eaves, have taken away its other- 
wise puritanical and somewhat uncompro- 
mising aspect. These vines are mostly the 
ordinary Virginia Creeper, which I had dug 
from the woods and planted when the first 
fat baby was two months old. Now their 
main trunks are, in places, as large as my arm. 
They have never been laid down. Whenever 
the house has been repainted, I have been 
constantly by, and admonished the men to 

26 




Arch over rose -walk, covered with Golden Honeysuckle and 
Clematis paniculata. September fifteenth 



LAYING OUT A GARDEN 

gently lift the heavy branches while painting 
under them, and not to paint the light ten- 
drils. When the master -painter has remon- 
strated, that it was not a "good job" and took 
three times as long as if the vines were laid 
down, my reply has been, that "three times" 
was nothing in comparison with the years i1 
had taken to grow them, and that stunting or 
killing the vines could never be a "good job.'" 

Among the creepers are the Crimson Ram- 
bler Rose and the Honeysuckle. In three 
years the Roses have grown above the sec- 
ond-story windows. 

Clematis paniculata, with its delicate foliage 
and mass of starry bloom in early autumn, 
is particularly good to plant by veranda posts 
in connection with other vines. It grows 
luxuriantly and is absolutely hardy. The 
large white - flowered Henryi and purple - 
flowered Jackmani Clematis, though of slow 
growth, should always have a place, either 
about a veranda, a summer-house or a trellis, 
for the sake of their beautiful flowers. 

27 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

While waiting for the hardy vines to make 
their first year's growth, the seeds of the 
Japanese Morning- Glory, the Japanese Moon- 
Flower and Coboea scandens may be planted. 
All of these will grow at least ten feet in 
a summer, and cover the bare places. But 
I would not advise sowing them among 
the hardy vines, except the first summer. 
In their luxuriance they may suffocate the 
Roses and Clematis. The seeds of the Moon- 
Flower must be soaked in hot water, and 
left over night, before sowing. So much for 
the vines about a house. 

In front of the vines, and on the south 
side in the same bed, plant masses of Holly- 
hocks, from eight to twelve in a bunch, 
and Rudbeckia in bunches of not more than 
five, as they grow so large. Hollyhocks and 
Rudbeckias plant two feet apart; they will 
grow to a solid mass. In front of these, 
again, put a clump of Phloxes, seven in a 
bunch, and Larkspur, Delphinium formosum 
being the best. On either side of the Del- 



LAYING OUT A GARDEN 

phinium have clumps of about a dozen Lilium 
candidum, which bloom at the same time. 
Edge the border with Sweet Williams, three 
kinds only, — white, pink and dark scarlet. 

I should not advise making all the borders 
around a house ahke. The easterly one will 
be most lovely if planted with tall ferns or 
brakes, taken from near some stream in early 
April, before they begin to grow. These will 
become about four feet high if you get good 
roots and keep them wet. Plant in among 
them everywhere Auratum Lilies, and you 
will have a border that will fill your heart 
with joy. On the north side of the house it is 
not possible to have much success with vines, 
as they need the sun. They will grow, but 
not with great luxuriance. Here plant two 
rows of the common Rhododendron maoci- 
mum, which grows in our woods. I crave 
pardon for calling it "common," since none 
that grows is more beautiful. 

In front of these plant ferns of all kinds 
from the woods, and edge the border with 

29 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

Columbines. If these Rhododendrons do not 
grow in your vicinity, they can be ordered 
from a florist. In the hills, about five miles 
from us, acres of them grow wild, and twice 
a year I send my men with wagons to 
dig them up. They stand transplanting per- 
fectly if care is taken to get aU the roots, 
which is not difficult, as they do not grow 
deep. Keep them quite wet for a week after 
j)lanting, and never let them get very dry. 
A good plan is to mulch them in early June 
to the depth of six inches or more with 
the clippings of the lawn grass, or with old 
manure. When once well rooted, the Rho- 
dodendrons will last a lifetime. They seem to 
bear transplanting at any season. Some think 
they do best if taken when in full bloom. I 
have always done this in April or late Octo- 
ber, and, of a wagon- load transplanted last 
October, all have lived. Many of these were 
like trees, quite eight feet tall and too large 
to be satisfactory about the house, so they 
were set among the evergreens in a shrubbery. 

30 




§1 

o 



? 



LAYING OUT A GARDEN 

In cold localities, where the thermometer 
in winter falls below zero, Rhododendrons 
should be mulched with stable litter or leaves 
to the depth of one foot, after the ground 
has frozen. They should also have some 
protection from the winter sun, which can 
be easily given them by setting evergreen 
boughs of any kind into the ground here 
jmd there among them. Rhododendrons are 
as likely to be killed by alternate freezing 
and thawing of the ground in winter as by 
immmer drought. 

The lovely Azalea mollis, and many beau- 
tiful varieties of imported Rhododendrons, are 
usually described as "hardy," but I cannot 
recommend them to those who live where 
the winters are severe. In such places their 
growth is very slow, and many perish. 

Maidenhair, the most beautiful of the hardy 
ferns, is to be found in quantities in many 
of our woods, particularly those covering hill- 
sides. Their favorite spot is along the edges 
of mountain brooks. I know such a hillside, 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

where Maidenhair Ferns are superb. But 
nothing would induce me to venture there 
again, since I have been told it was infested 
with rattlesnakes, and that the woodchoppers 
kill a number of them every year. This fact, 
too, gives me scruples about sending the men 
to dig them up, although it is an awful 
temptation. 

All ferns should be transplanted late in 
the autumn, or very early in the spring be- 
fore the fronds are started, as they are very 
easily broken. This is particularly the case 
with ferns from wet places. When planted 
on the east or north side of a house, the 
tall ones at the back, and Maidenhair and 
other low varieties in front, they make a 
beautiful bank of cool green. They must be 
kept moist, however, to be successful, and in 
dry weather require a daily soaking. 

The Cardinal Flower, whose natural haunt 
is along the banks of streams, and whose 
spikes are of the most beautiful red, can 
also be safely transplanted, and will bloom 




Vase of Delphinium (Perennial Larkspur) 
June twenty -first 



LAYING OUT A GARDEN 

in deep, rich soil equally well in shade or 
sun and will be very effective among the 
Ferns. About the end of November, after 
cutting the dead stalks, cover each plant 
with a piece of sod, laid grass -side down. 
Remove this the first of April, and the little 
sprouts will soon appear above the ground. 
Cardinal Flowers bloom for nearly a month 
— during the last two weeks of August and 
first two weeks of September. 



HOW TO PLANT A SMALL PLOT 



CHAPTER IV 

HOW TO PLANT A SMALL PLOT 

T AM frequently surprised to hear people 
say, "Oh, a flower garden is very nice, 
but such a trouble!" I have heard this 
expression several times from friends who 
employ a number of men and have large 
places with extensive lawns, shrubberies and 
vegetable gardens, but without flowers, ex- 
cept, perhaps, a few annuals growing among 
the vegetables. 

Yet no one is indifferent to the beauty of 
a garden, or unobservant of the improvement 
which even a few flowers can make around 
the humblest cottage. Think of the pretty 
thatched cottages one sees everywhere in 
England and France, covered to the eaves 
with Roses and Clematis, and surrounded by 
flowers growing wherever they can find root 

37 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

in the tiny gardens. Yet all this is the re- 
sult of only a half hour's daily care after the 
long day's work is done. 

One should begin with a few plants — per- 
haps a dozen only — and the "trouble" will 
soon become a delight, unless one is devoid 
of all love for flowers. 

Whenever I hear remarks on the "trouble" 
of a flower garden, I think of those peasant 
homes, and also of a little plot grown and 
cared for by a certain tenant farmer's wife I 
know. She has six children, and must cook 
and bake and clean for four men in addition; 
yet, some time every day, she finds a few 
minutes to tend her flowers. She has a bor- 
der along the fence four by fifty feet, filled 
with perennials; a border across the front of 
her house with Phlox and Funkias, and a 
couple of beds with Asters, Poppies, Balsams, 
Portulaca and Pinks. The perennials were 
given her, a few at a time. She separated 
the roots, saved the seeds to raise others, and 
has been able in this way to increase her 




Vase of Peonies 
June sixth 



HOW TO PLANT A SMALL PLOT 

borders. The seeds of the few annuals she 
buys do not cost more than a dollar a 
year. Thus, for a trifling expenditure and a 
short time every day, this woman makes her 
humble surroundings beautiful, while her 
soul finds an object upon which to expend 
its love of beauty, and her thoughts have a 
respite from the daily cares of life. 

Many people have the mistaken idea that 
a flower garden, however small, is an expen- 
sive luxury, and are so convinced of this, 
that they never venture any attempt at gar- 
dening, and pass their lives knowing nothing 
of its pleasures. 

Let us suppose some one is starting a sub- 
urban home in a simple way, and see how 
flowers can be had for many months at small 
cost. If one has a place in a town or vil- 
lage, the plot of ground not over fifty by 
two hundred feet, still the possibilities are 
great, and the owner can easily gather flowers 
for herself and her friends from April until 
mid-November. A house or cottage on such 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

a piece of ground generally stands back from 
twenty to fifty feet, with a gravel or flagged 
walk running to the street. If the owner be 
a beginner in gardening and expects to do 
most of the work herself, let her commence 
with a few plants in a small space. As the 
plants thrive and become beautiful, the care 
of them will give an added pleasure to life, 
and, little by little, the beds and borders can 
be increased. 

In beginning to plant a small plot, the 
most natural place first is a border, say two 
feet wide, on either side of the walk leading 
from the house to the street. Have these 
borders dug out and made properly. Then, 
if the owner wishes to see them continually 
abloom, bulbs must be planted, to give the 
early spring flowers. Tulips can be had for 
eighty cents a hundred, Narcissus Poeticus for 
sixty-five cents a hundred, and Yellow Daffo- 
dils for one dollar and twenty-five cents a 
hundred. Hyacinths are more expensive, and 
cost from four dollars a hundred up. If a 

40 



HOW TO PLANT A SMALL PLOT 

hundred each of the Tulips, Narcissi, Hya- 
cinths and Daffodils were planted they would 
make the borders lovely from early in April 
until late in May. The Daffodils will bloom 
first, then the Hyacinths, followed by the 
Narcissi, and the Tulips last, if care is taken 
to buy a late variety. 

There should certainly be three or four 
Peonies in the borders, — pink, white, and 
dark red ; good roots of these can be had for 
about thirty-five cents each. Once planted, 
they should not be disturbed for years; and, 
although the first season they may not yield 
more than two or three blossoms, in each 
succeeding year the flowers wiU increase in 
number. A friend told me, not long ago, 
that she had counted sixty blossoms upon 
each of several of her plants. 

There should also be at least a dozen 
Columbines (Aquilegias) to bloom the end 
of May and the first of June. The roots of 
these can be bought for a dollar and a half 
a dozen, or they can be raised from seed ; in 

41 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

the latter case, however, they would not bloom 
until the second year, being perennials. 

No border can be complete without Del- 
phiniums (Larkspur). Good -sized roots of 
the Delphinium formosum, lovely dark blue, 
are a dollar and twenty -five cents a dozen. 
Formosum Coelistina, the light blue variety, 
is two dollars and a half a dozen. Then, of 
course, there must be other perennials, — 
Phlox, at least a dozen plants in the differ- 
ent colours, which will cost a dollar and a 
half. 

A few Lilies will add greatly to the 
beauty of the borders. Tiger Lilies, which 
are only sixty cents a dozen; Auratums, 
which can be had from eighty -five cents a 
dozen up, according to the size of the 
bulbs ; Speciosuvi ruhrum from eighty - five 
cents a dozen up, and Candidums, or Ma- 
donna Lihes, a dollar and a half a dozen. 
German Iris, a dollar a dozen, and Japanese 
Iris, at a dollar and a quarter a dozen, 
should also have a place. 

42 




•s 



•B 



I ^ 



HOW TO PLANT A SMALL PLOT 

Excellent Gladioli can be bought for a 
dollar and fifty cents a hundred, and these 
will be most satisfactory if planted in the 
border about May fifteenth in groups of six 
to ten. 

A dozen Chrysanthemums of the hardiest 
varieties to be obtained, and costing a dollar 
and a half a dozen, will, with the other 
plants mentioned, about fill two borders two 
feet wide by thirty long. It would also be 
well to sow the seeds of some Calendulas, 
Nasturtiums and Asters wherever there may 
be a vacant place. Or better, perhaps, 
sow the seeds in boxes in mid -April, and 
transplant to the border the early part of 
June. The first cost will be the only ex- 
pense for these borders, except in the case 
of the Auratum Lilies, which will die out 
in about three years, and of the few flower 
seeds. The only care needed is to keep the 
borders free from weeds, to stir the soil 
every week, and to water after sunset in 
dry weather. 

43 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

It will be seen, from the following list, 
that such borders can easily be made and 
planted at a cost of less than thirty dollars. 
This can be reduced by omitting the Hya- 
cinths. Directions for planting are given 
elsewhere. 

PRICE 

Tulips $0 80 

> Narcissi 65 

. Daffodils 1 25 

. Hyacinths 4 00 

Peonies 1 40 

Columbines 1 50 

Delphinium Formosum 1 25 

Delphinium Ccelestina 2 50 

- Phlox 1 50 

* Tiger Lilies 60 

Auratum 85 

Lilium ruhrum 85 

Lilium candidum 1 50 

Japanese Iris 1 25 

Iris Germanica 1 00 

Chrysanthemums 1 50 

Flower seeds 1 00 

Three days' work, at $1.50 per day 4 50 

Manure 1 50 

Total $29 40 

44. 



HOW TO PLANT A SMALL PLOT 

After a year or two, the owner of the cot- 
tage may want to increase the flower garden, 
and the next place to plant is close about 
the house. It is to be taken for granted 
that the house and piazzas have the proper 
gutters. This is necessary, of course, for the 
preservation of the house, and without gut- 
ters the drip from the eaves would be such 
that nothing could grow directly against the 
house. 

The bed might be three feet wide and 
run across the front of the house on either 
side of the steps. The owner would proba- 
bly wish to plant vines over the porch or 
piazza, in case it has not already been done. 
The best for this purpose are mentioned 
elsewhere. 

Should the house front the south, east or 
west, nearly everything can be grown; but 
should it face the north, nothing but Ferns 
and Rhododendrons would be successful on 
the front. Dahlias of the Cactus variety, in 
different colours, could be planted at the back 

45 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

of the bed on one side of the steps. Get 
good-sized roots, plant them two feet apart. 
They will grow against the house like a tall 
hedge. If planted the third week in April 
quite deep, say eight inches, they will begin 
to bloom about the sixth of July, and con- 
tinue to be covered with flowers until killed 
by frost. In front of the Dahlias, plant white 
Phlox. In front of the Phlox sow a row of 
Centaurea or Cornflowers, the Emperor Wil- 
liam variety. These should be sown early in 
April, will begin to bloom by June tenth, 
and, if they are not allowed to go to seed, 
will blossom all summer. Sow in front of the 
Cornflowers, at the same time, a row of white 
Candytuft, of the Empress variety. This also 
will bloom continuously if the flowers are cut 
as soon as they wither. On the other side 
of the steps, at the back of the bed, plant 
Rudbeckia (Golden Glow) two feet apart. 
The roots should be bought and planted, 
preferably in October, otherwise as soon as 
the frost is out of the ground in the spring, 

46 



HOW TO PLANT A SMALL PLOT 

as they start very early. In front of the 
Rudbeckias plant Cannas — the Tarrytown, 
of most vivid scarlet hue, I have found the 
best and freest-flowering of all. The roots 
should be planted about May fifteenth. 

On the edge of the bed, sow by April 
fifteenth a row of salmon -pink Zinnias, and 
when they are well up, thin out to six 
inches apart. They begin to blossom when 
very small, and will stand considerable frost. 
The expense of these beds will be trifling. 
Rudbeckias of the Golden Glow variety, 
one dollar a dozen ; the Tarrytown Canna, 
two dollars and a half a dozen; Cactus 
Dahhas, two dollars a dozen ; Phlox, one 
dollar and a half a dozen. The small quan- 
tity of flower seeds required will cost less 
than a dollar. A man can easily make the 
beds in three days. Therefore, the cost with 
manure will be less than fifteen dollars. 

After a hard frost has killed the tops, 
the Dahlias, Cannas and Gladioli should be 
taken up, the tops cut off, the roots well 

47 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

dried, and then stored in a cellar that does 
not freeze. The Canna and Dahlia roots 
will have grown so large that they can be 
divided and it will be found that there are 
enough to plant, the following spring, nearly 
twice the space they occupied before. 

It is impossible, if successful with the bor- 
ders already planned, for the owner not to 
wish for more garden. She sees the neigh- 
bors' gardens with newly opened eyes; flowers 
and their treatment become an absorbing 
topic of conversation, and the exchange of 
plants a delightful transaction. 

It will be seen that the next places to plant 
are along the boundary lines of the property. 
Even if one side only be laid out at a time, 
a large number of plants will be required. 
The owner will find great pleasure in raising 
as many of these herself as possible. To 
accompHsh this, somewhere at the back of 
the place, a seed-bed should be made, and 
in April the seeds of perennials and annuals 
sown. The border must be made by Sep- 

48 




Vase of Altheas 
September sixteenth 



HOW TO PLANT A SMALL PLOT 

tember the twentieth and should be at least 
four feet wide. Either a hedge can be 
placed at the back of the border, or tall- 
growing flowering shrubs, such as white 
and purple Lilacs (not the Persian), Mock 
Oranges (Syringa), Deutzia and Roses of 
Sharon (Althea). These shrubs will grow 
about equally high, yield an abundance of 
flowers, the Altheas in August, the others 
in May or June, and in four or five years 
will form a complete screen from the neigh- 
boring grounds. 

In front of the shrubs perennials can 
be planted, taller ones at the back, lower- 
growing ones in front, and annuals along 
the edge. Such a border, if from fifty to 
a hundred feet in length, will be a garden 
by itself. The plants will do best if closely 
set, and every vacant space filled in June 
with annuals. Weeds then have little chance 
to grow, and a short time every day will keep 
such a border in order. The border can be 
of any width from four to twelve feet, but 

49 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

when more than four feet, the front edge 
should be made with irregular curves to 
avoid a stiff appearance. 

Shrubs should be set out not later than 
October tenth, and, as they or the hedge 
would be at the back of the bed, the plant- 
ing of them will not interfere with the per- 
ennials that have already been transplanted 
from the seed-bed. Hedges are so much 
more beautiful than any fence that ever was 
built that, in towns or villages where cattle 
are not allowed to run at large, hedges should, 
wherever possible, be used in place of fences. 

To prepare the ground for a hedge, make 
a trench eighteen inches deep, put a good 
layer of well-rotted manure in the bottom 
and fill up with earth. When the hedge is 
planted give it a good top-dressing of manure, 
and continue this top-dressing, with a little 
bone-meal sown on the surface of the ground, 
every spring. 

The best and hardiest evergreen hedge is 
of Hemlock Spruce. Plants of this can be 

50 



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HOW TO PLANT A SMALL PLOT 

bought for fifteen dollars a hundred, and 
should be set eighteen inches apart. 

The Privet is a favorite hedge in this 
country. It keeps green until December, 
and leafs out early in the spring. It is 
hardy and of rapid growth. Good plants 
are six dollars a hundred, and should be 
planted a foot apart. Catalogues say that if 
planted in rich soil one foot apart, a hedge 
five feet high can be grown in three seasons. 
Common Privet is more hardy than Califor- 
nia Privet. Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora 
makes a beautiful low-growing hedge; good 
plants can be bought for six dollars a 
hundred. Berheris Thunbergii, or Barberry, 
makes a fine hedge, on account of its beau- 
tiful foliage and scarlet fruit. It is, how- 
ever, slow -growing. 

The owner of a small place should avoid 
the temptation to scatter flower beds about 
the lawn. Keep aU the planting along the 
edges of the property and around the house, 
and leave the lawn unbroken by flower beds. 

51 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

The years when gardening consisted only of 
beds of Coleus, Geraniums, Verbenas and bed- 
ding plants have passed away, like the black 
walnut period of furniture. And even as the 
mahogany of our grandfathers is now brought 
forth from garrets and unused rooms, and 
antiquity shops and farm-houses are searched 
for the good old-time furniture, so we are 
learning to take the old gardens for our 
models, and the old-fashioned flowers to fill 
our borders. 

The nurseryman of to-day has greatly im- 
proved the size and colour of the old varieties 
of perennials, so that they are far more beau- 
tiful than formerly, and offer a much greater 
choice. By skilful hybridization a hundred 
or more kinds of Phlox have been devel- 
oped. In the same way, numerous varieties 
of Delphiniums, Iris, Peonies, Columbines, 
Canterbury Bells and Foxgloves have been 
produced. The old-fashioned annuals also 
appear in many new forms. In addition to 
the pink and white "Painted Lady," the 

52 



HOW TO PLANT A SMALL PLOT 

pure white and the dark purple Sweet Peas 
of our mothers' time, we may now cultivate 
some eighty varieties of this delicate flower. 
Thus the garden of hardy perennials, annuals 
and bulbs will give us a continual sequence 
of flowers in every form and colour from 
April until November, if properly made and 
tended. 



53 



THE SEED-BED 



CHAPTER V 

THE SEED-BED 

nf^ HE possessor of a garden, large or small, 
should have a seed-bed, where seeds of 
perennials and some of the annuals can be 
sown and grown until large enough to be 
permanently placed. Not only will this bed 
give great pleasure in enabling one to watch 
the plants from the time the first tiny leaf 
appears, but also when laden with blossoms 
in fullest beauty. The knowledge that you 
have raised them gives a thrill of pride in 
the result which no bought plants, however 
beautiful, can impart. It is not necessary 
to prepare the seed-bed over a foot in depth, 
but the soil must be very light and fine, as 
well as rich. It is best, if possible, to have 
a portion of the bed somewhat shaded from 
the sun for a part of the day. If this com- 

57 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

bination cannot be had in one bed, there 
should be a second for plants that want less' 
sun. Biennials must, of course, be sown 
every year, as they bloom but once, then die. 

Every year some perennials will disappear, 
killed by severe winters, by pests of one kind 
or another, or dying without apparent cause. 
To keep up the supply, therefore, some of 
each variety should be raised every year. 

Foxgloves and Sweet Williams, if allowed 
to go to seed, will sow themselves and in- 
crease rapidly. The same with Hollyhocks, 
but, except on the edges of shrubberies 
and in wild borders, it is better to cut the 
stalk just before the seed is ready to fall, 
and save it to sow in the seed-bed. 

In my garden, some seventy miles from 
New York, and where the spring opens ten 
days later, I sow my seeds, — the perennials 
about the tenth of April and the annuals 
from April twentieth to May first. Buy the 
seeds, if the garden is large, by the ounce or 
half-ounce; if small, in the seedsman's pack- 

58 




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1 



THE SEED-BED 

ets. I always have the seeds of perennials 
soaked for twenty -four hours before planting, 
and find that by so doing they are very sure to 
germinate. Care must be taken, when soak- 
ing a number of different kinds at the same 
time, to place the name of each variety of 
seed under the glass or bowl containing the 
same. When ready for planting, pour off the 
water and mix the wet seeds carefully with 
very dry earth, in a cigar -box, which is of 
the right size and easy to handle. Then 
sow, not too deeply, in rows about a foot 
apart in the bed, covering very lightly, ac- 
cording to size. One -half inch is enough for 
the large seeds. The very fine varieties should 
simply have the earth sprinkled on them. 
If planted too deep they will never come up. 
Seeds of annuals do not require soaking. 

Pat the earth down firmly with the back 
of the trowel, sprinkle with a fine sprinkler 
late every afternoon, and it is not your fault 
if you do not have hundreds and thousands of 
young plants to make your own place beau- 

59 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

tiful and to give to your friends. It is a 
keen delight, when a friend says that she has 
not raised such and such plants this year, to 
run and get your trowel and dig a bunch 
of this and that from the rows of sturdy 
little plants. It is a pleasure to know that 
a bit of your garden has gone to help make 
another's beautiful. 

One of the greatest pleasures of a garden 
is in giving flowers and plants to your 
friends. Every October, when arranging the 
borders and separating plants, I send away 
great boxes of them, some to fortunate 
friends with lovely gardens, but without the 
same varieties ; some to humble cottage gar- 
dens, and others to friends who have never 
grown a flower, but would Uke to try. This 
year, having made a large new garden, I was 
able to give away to friends and neighbors 
only about seven hundred plants, not seed- 
lings but large plants and roots. Generally 
I can send away far more. Think what a 
delight this is 1 

60 



THE SEED-BED 

A request for some plants came to me 
last autumn from the baggage-master of a 
railroad station some twenty miles from us, 
who, by the boxes of shrubs and plants 
that came to me, inferred that I might 
have some to spare. I learned that all this 
man's spare time was spent in his little 
garden plot, so great was his love of 
flowers. I know, too, a village expressman 
(another whom nature intended for a gar- 
dener), whose Uttle plot of ground is always 
a mass of beauty. He has a surprising 
variety of plants, and every one is a fine 
specimen of its kind. His Anemone Ja- 
ponica alba are the finest I have ever seen, 
each one sending up perhaps a dozen slen- 
der stalks of the beautiful flowers. I have 
had great difficulty with this plant and have 
lost dozens of them. I always drive very 
slowly by the expressman's garden, burning 
with envy and wondering how he does it. 
In fact, it was only last year that I had 
my first success with these obdurate plants. 

61 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

They must grow under trees whose branches 
are sufficiently high to admit the sun half 
the day. As they bloom in September and 
October, the tree protects them from the 
frost, and in winter they should be well cov- 
ered with stable litter. They are among 
the few plants to be set out in^ the spring, 
for if not well established they are always 
winter-killed. 

It is well not to empty the perennial seed- 
bed entirely in the autumn, but to leave a 
few plants of each variety to transplant in 
the spring, to take the place of those which 
have not survived the winter. When the 
bed is empty, in the spring, have a good 
coating of manure spaded in and proceed 
again with the sowing. 

Biennials, and also most perennials, must 
be raised every year to keep up the supply. 



62 







OS V 






O 



PLANTING 




Ok : 



CHAPTEH VI 

PLANTING 

T CAN NOT impress too strongly upon my 
readers the importance of ordering their 
plants and seeds of well-known firms. The 
best are always the cheapest in the end. 
Inquiry among friends will generally give 
the best information as to reliable seedsmen 
and growers. In ordering shrubs and plants 
it is important to specify the precise date of 
delivery, that you may know in advance the 
day of arrival. The beds or borders should 
be prepared in advance, so that everything 
may be set out without delay. Care must 
be taken that the roots are not exposed to 
the air and allowed to become dry. It is a 
good plan, when unpacking a box of plants, 
to sort them, laying each variety in a pile 
by itself, covering the roots with the moss 

65 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

and excelsior in which they were packed, 
and then, if at all dry, to sprinkle thoroughly. 
Unpacking should, if possible, be done under 
cover — in the cellar if there be no other 
place. 

Great care must also be taken in setting 
out plants that ample room be given; as the 
roots should be well spread out and never 
doubled up. Do not be afraid of having the 
hole too big; see that the earth is finely 
pulverized and well packed about the roots; 
that the plant is thoroughly soaked, and, if 
the weather is dry, kept watered for a couple 
of weeks. If the plants have arrived in 
good condition and are carefully set out, but 
few should die. I have never lost a decid- 
uous tree, and frequently, in setting out a 
hundred shrubs at one time, all have hved. 

Wherever there is a fence make a border, 
wide or narrow according to your space; if 
wide, — and it may be as much as twelve 
feet wide, — always make the edge irregular, 
never straight. Some prefer a hedge at the 

66 




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PLANTING 

back of the border. The best effect and 
quickest screen is made by planting, against 
the fence at the back of the border, White 
Lilacs (not the Persian), Syringas, Deutzias 
and the beautiful new Altheas. Plant these 
shrubs three feet apart. In good soil they 
will send up great canes, and in four years 
time should be six feet high and shut you 
in from all prying gaze. 

In planting a border, always keep in mind 
the fact that it should be blooming from 
May to November. Put in the plants ac- 
cording to height, the taUest, of course, at 
the back and the lowest in front, filhng the 
front also with spring-flowering bulbs, Daffo- 
dils, Tulips and Narcissi, which will blossom 
and be over before the plants come on. 
You will thus have the longest succession of 
bloom. If the border is quite wide — from 
four to six feet — and perhaps one hundred 
and fifty feet long, it will hold a surprising 
number of plants. 

Certain plants, in a long border with a 
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A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

background of shrubs, look best in rows, in 
spite of all that has been ^vritten against it: 
For instance. Hollyhocks, a long row of plants 
three deep, broken every ten feet or so by 
a clump of a dozen, and in front of these a 
single row of Rudbeckias, broken with clumps 
of six or so, and the rest of the border planted 
in masses, more or less according to space, of 
Phloxes, Larkspur, Lilies, Columbines, Sweet 
WiUiams, with every now and then a good 
clump of Chrysanthemums to blossom when 
all other flowers are gone. 

In filling a border along a rather short 
path, the plants should always be set in 
clumps of from six to twelve of a kind. If 
the border is narrow and has no shrubs or 
hedge back of it, the effect will be better if 
the plants do not exceed three feet in height. 
Omit from such a border Hollyhocks, Rud- 
beckias. Sunflowers and Cosmos. Sweet Wil- 
liams, Columbines, Sweet Alyssum, Candy- 
tuft, Nasturtiums and Phlox Drummondii can 
all be grown as edging for borders. 

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PLANTING 

I have a border, two and a half feet wide 
and three hundred and fifty feet long, that 
is a mass of bloom from the middle of May 
until the last of September. 

It may give the reader a suggestion to 
know its contents. Everything is in rows, 
the only border in my garden where the 
planting is done in this way. Along the 
edge is Narcissus Poeticus; back of Narcis- 
sus Poeticus a row of Sweet Williams, pink, 
white and very dark red; back of the Sweet 
WiUiams, Foxgloves; back of the Foxgloves, 
Peonies and Hydrangea grandiflora planted 
alternately; and back of these, a row of 
Hollyhocks. About two feet behind this 
border, a row of Rudbeckia (Golden Glow) 
grows like a tall hedge. 

When Narcissus Poeticus has finished 
blooming, the Peonies come on. Before the 
last Peony has lost its petals, the Sweet 
WiUiams (quite two feet high) are in blos- 
som, and the Foxgloves (from three to four 
feet high) begin to bloom, and last for a 

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A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

month. While these flowers are still lovely, 
the tall Hollyhocks begin to flower, each 
plant sending up from three to five stalks. 
Then, by the time the Hollyhock stalks are 
cut down, the Hydrangeas, which are trimmed 
back very severely every autumn, are a mass 
of white. Meanwhile the Rudbeckias, for 
quite six weeks, form a yellow background. 
The illustrations show this row of flowers 
while the Narcissi, Peonies, Foxgloves, and 
Hydrangeas are successively in blossom. 

Early in June, I transplant into peren- 
nial borders, wherever a spot can be found, 
clumps of Asters, Cosmos and other late 
annuals, which are beautiful in September 
and October when most flowers have ceased 
to bloom. 

From September twentieth to October 
fifteenth is a busy time in the garden. New 
beds and borders should be made then. The 
plants in all borders four years old should 
be lifted, and the beds or borders spaded 
deeply with plenty of manure, the plants 

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PLANTING 

reset, and the young perennials transplanted 
from the seed-bed into their final places. 
All perennial plants whose roots are suffi- 
ciently large, should now- be divided and 
reset. This fall planting and transplanting 
should be done at about the time mentioned, 
for the shrubs and plants must become well 
rooted before the ground freezes, or they 
will rarely survive the winter. No matter 
how rich a bed or border may be, I always 
have the hole to receive the plant made 
larger than is necessary, and put a spade- 
ful of manure in the bottom. In trans- 
planting, my man always has a wheelbarrow 
of this at his side to work from. 

If there are bare places in lawns or grass 
paths, sow grass seed about the twentieth 
of September, then roll, and the grass will 
be well rooted before cold weather. 

It must be borne in mind that everything 
possible should be done in the fall. Peren- 
nials start early in the spring, and it is a 
pity, when they are once started, to disturb 

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A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

them. When the frost has finally killed 
everything, all the dead tops should be cut 
off at the ground, the dead annuals pulled 
up, the borders made clean and neat, and, 
about the last of November, covered with a 
good layer of stable litter, leaves or straw. 
I have always found the plants start earlier 
and do better for this slight protection. 

Whenever I tell my inquiring friends of 
the proper preparation of beds, and the spring 
top-dressing, and winter covering with ma- 
nure, there is generally an exclamation of 
alarm at the quantity used. But much is 
required to make the garden grow. I call 
upon the farm for manure when the stable 
supply is insufficient, and both my farmer- 
husband and his manager at times look 
askance. But how can I live unless my gar- 
den has what it needs ! The farmer -husband 
looks upon my gardening as a mild species 
of insanity, and cannot understand why a 
little garden with a few plants is not enough 
for any woman. By dint of much showing 

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PLANTING 

and explanation through many years, he has 
acquired a floricultural knowledge which en- 
ables him to tell a Rose, Lily, Sunflower and 
Phlox, and of this knowledge he is proud. 

All manure should be drawn out into the 
garden when the ground is still frozen, in 
March or earlier, and placed in convenient 
piles, so that the ground may not be cut up, 
when soft, by the wagon wheels ; and also to 
facihtate work when the first spring days 
come, and there are a hundred things to be 
done. If possible, have a spadeful of well- 
rotted stable manure stirred into the ground 
around each shrub and vine in early spring. 
The result will amply repay you. Save all 
wood -ashes carefully, under cover, for the 
garden, and scatter them on the beds and on 
the grass. Get well-ground fresh bone-meal, 
and let all plants have only a handful in the 
spring, and the reward in bloom is great. 
To have good results from the hardy Chry- 
santhemums the soil cannot be too rich, and 
I generally "give them something to eat," 

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A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN | 

I 
as a boy who helps in the garden calls 

it, about the fifteenth of June and the 

fifteenth of August. 

Care must be taken, in using bone-meal, 

not to put on too much, and to keep it 

away from contact with the rootlets. 



'^4 



ANNUALS 



CHAPTER VII 

ANNUALS 

^THHERE are so many annuals that I will 
write only about the few which are 
easiest to grow and are most desirable. For 
me a flower must have merits for decorating 
the house as well as for making the garden 
beautiful. 

The other day I found an English book 
on flowers, and at once sat down to read 
it, expecting enjoyment and profit from every 
page; but at the end of a few minutes I 
came upon the following paragraph: 

"Particularly to most women one of the 
chief uses or functions of a garden is to 
provide flowers to be cut for the decora- 
tion of rooms. But I hold that a flower 
cut from its plant and placed in a vase 
is as a scalp on the walls of a wigwam." 

And I read no further in that book. 

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A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

I grow flowers to gather them, both for 
the house and to give away. We keep 
about sixty vases full in the house from 
late May until October, and never allow 
more than two colours in the same room. 
I have a yellow room, where only yellow 
and white flowers, or white and blue, are 
permitted; a pink room, for white and pink 
or pink and crimson flowers ; and a hall, 
whose dominant tone is a rich red, where 
the flowers are red and white. 

Some of the annuals, like Mignonette and 
Poppies, must be sown where they are to 
grow. Mignonette does best in cool, rather 
moist soil. 

Poppies, and oh! have plenty of them 
and all kinds. Get the Shirley Poppies, the 
Giant Double, the fringed kind, and the 
California with their sunny petals. Sow in 
great numbers wherever they are wanted, 
here and there in the borders wherever 
there is space. If there is no other place, 
sow them in rows in the vegetable garden. 

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ANNUALS 

They are splendid in the house, but, alas! 
fall too quickly. 

The Shirley Poppies are almost like fairy 
flowers, they are so delicate and beautiful. 
They are the first of the annual Poppies to 
bloom. Then comes the variety which grows 
wild in France and Germany, — scarlet, with 
black blotches at the base of the petals. Last 
to bloom are the tall, fringed double and single 
Poppies, — white, pink and scarlet, growing on 
strong stems three feet high. Poppies must 
be sown thinly and the earth only sprinkled 
over the seeds. Sow as early in the spring 
as the ground can be worked, and thin out to 
six inches apart when the plants are well up. 

Nasturtiums, too, should be planted where 
they are to grow, also Sweet Alyssum and 
Candytuft. All of these make good edgings 
for borders. If not allowed to go to seed 
they will bloom all summer. 

Sunflowers, the Dwarf Double, and the 
tall Giant Sunflowers, are fine in back- 
grounds and against fences. 

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A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

The Following Annuals Should be Sown in the Seed-bed 
About April Twentieth to May First 

Antirrhinum, or Snapdragon, growing 
eighteen inches high. If sown in early May 
they will bloom from August until late 
autumn. The same is true of the German 
Ten-weeks Stocks, which have a long period 
of bloom. The white ones are most lovely. 

Asters, all varieties ; sow a quantity. 
They are not only beautiful, but they give 
an abundance of blossoms in late Septem- 
ber and early October, when flowers are be- 
ginning to be scarce. I prefer the Giant, 
Comet, Ostrich Plume and the late-flowering 
branching kind. Of these last, "Purity" 
(snow-white) and "Daybreak" (shell-pink) 
are the best, often bearing thirty flowers on 
a plant and lasting, in water, five days. A 
small quantity of wood -ashes stirred into 
the soil of the Aster bed is a fine fertil- 
izer and destroys insects that attack the 
roots. Transplant in June to wherever they 
are to blossom. 

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A single plant of Asters 
September tenth 



ANNUALS 

I have lately learned, that the only way 
to destroy the black beetle which appears 
upon the Asters and eats the flowers, is to 
have them picked off morning and evening 
and thrown into a pan containing kerosene 
oil, which kills them. 

Cosmos. The early-summer flowering vari- 
ety of Cosmos will begin to bloom in July, 
and, if not allowed to go to seed, will be a 
mass of flowers until killed by frost. In 
favorable soil Cosmos grows luxuriantly, and 
resembles a small tree six or eight feet high. 
This plant should be staked, or it is likely 
to be blown down. It is very effective when 
transplanted to the borders, blooming gayly 
when there is not much else. The pink and 
crimson varieties are beautiful, but do not 
compare with the white. 

Calendula, growing about a foot high in 
every shade of yellow from deep orange to 
pale ivory, is one of the best and most con- 
stant blooming of the yeUow flowers. 

Centaurea, or Cornjlower, These come 
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A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

in many colours, but I grow only the tall, 
ragged, blue variety. If not permitted to 
go to seed, they will bloom plentifully for 
several months. On the dinner -table with 
blue and Vvdiite china, and in June combined 
with Syringa, they make a beautiful and 
unusual decoration. 

Marigold, both the double African and the 
double French. These flowers always give 
me a pricking of the conscience, for dur- 
ing the summer, when there are plenty of 
others, I give them the "go by," but in 
October turn to them with shame and thank- 
fulness. 

Phlox DriLinmondii grows about six or 
eight inches high, and comes in many colours. 
It makes beautiful borders, particularly the 
white, pink and dark red. 

Plumed Celosia, or Cockscomb. The new 
varieties are very effective. 

Zinnias. Lately I have grown only tw^o 
varieties, a vivid scarlet and a salmon -pink. 
They are not only lovely when growing, but 



ANNUALS 

make a beautiful house decoration, as the 
stems are long and stiff. 

Sweet Peas, which no garden can do with- 
out. Several books say, plant in autumn, 
very late. I have twice sown two pounds 
at this time, carefully following the direc- 
tions, and not one single Pea came up the 
following spring. Sweet Peas should be 
sown in the spring the moment the frost 
comes out of the ground, so that they may 
become deeply rooted before dry weather. 
Make a trench about a foot deep and a foot 
wide. Have a good layer of manure in the 
bottom of the trench, over which put a couple 
of inches of earth, and over this earth put a 
good layer of wood -ashes, again a sprinkling 
of earth. Then sow the Peas, and cover them 
with a couple of inches of earth. As they 
grow, fill in the trench, and keep on hilling 
up the plants until the roots are very deep. 
It is well to mulch them with the clippings 
of lawn grass. In this way the plants are 

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A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

kept from drying up, and will bloom until 
October. 

Sweet Peas flourish best on a trellis of 
galvanized wire netting. It should be a 
permanent trellis, made of cedar posts set 
three feet deep, so as to be below the frost 
line and four feet high. To this attach the 
wire netting. A trench should be made on 
either side of the netting, so that a double 
row of Peas may be sown. The quantity 
sown depends on the length of the trellis ; 
three pounds will sow a double row one hun- 
dred and twenty -five feet long. I always sow 
the different colours separately. It simplifies 
the task of arranging them, if they can be 
gathered separately. A bowl of white Sweet 
Peas and Maidenhair Fern is indeed a "thing 
of beauty." 

Pansies, every one loves them. They are 
annuals, but do best if treated as biennials. 
The most practical hint that I was able to 
get from "Ehzabeth's German Garden" was 
where she spoke of carpeting her Rose beds 

84 



ANNUALS 

with Pansies. This instantly appealed to me, 
as I greatly dislike to see the earth in the 
beds and borders, and in Rose beds it always 
is to be seen. So I bought an ounce each 
of white and yellow Pansy seed, sowed it 
about the tenth of July in the partly shaded 
end of the seed-bed, and by October first 
had splendid great plants. I did not allow 
these to blossom, but picked off the buds, 
and, after the Rose beds had been given a 
plentiful top-dressing of manure carefully 
stirred in with a large trowel, I transplanted 
my Pansy plants. Of course, they had to 
be covered over with the Roses the last of 
November, and often during the winter I 
wondered whether the dears would be smoth- 
ered. On the twenty -eighth of March the 
beds were uncovered, and, imagine it! there 
were Pansies in bloom. From April tenth 
until late in August these beds were simply 
a carpet of white and yellow. I never saw 
anything like it. It was probably due to 
the rich soil, perhaps also to the free water- 

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A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

ing necessary for the Roses. Then, in order 
that no Pansies should go to seed, my own 
maid, who is very fond of flowers, undertook 
each morning to cut off all that were begin- 
ning to wither. This required from one 
to two hours, but certainly prolonged the 
bloom, and I could never have spared a 
man so long for just the Pansies. Sow 
Pansy seed in the seed-bed about the tenth 
of July, and transplant late in October. 

These are some of the more important 
annuals which no garden should be without. 
All of them are easy to raise, and blossom 
abundantly. I do not speak of the many 
others, but advise trying new flowers every 
year. 

The first week in June is the time to 
transplant all annuals. Do it, if possible, 
directly after a rain, always late in the 
afternoon, and, of course, water well after 
transplanting. I have a method of my own 
for the transplanting of seedhngs, and by 

86 







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< U 

CD 



ANNUALS 

following it the tiny plants never wither or 
are set back, and in fact do not seem to 
know that they have been moved. Take a 
tin box, such as biscuits come in, half fill 
it with water, then lift into it from the 
seed-bed about one hundred seedlings at 
a time. With a sharp -pointed stick make 
holes in the bed where the little plants are 
to go, and then put them in. Soak the 
ground thoroughly after each patch is 
finished. In this way the tiny rootlets 
never become dry. 

All the beds and borders can be kept free 
from weeds and in good condition if gone 
over with a trowel every five days, or once 
a week, the earth stirred thoroughly, and 
any weeds that may have grown taken out. 
It is particularly necessary, for a few weeks 
in the spring, to keep well ahead of the 
weeds. I always think of my sins when I 
weed. They grow apace in the same way 
and are harder still to get rid of. It seems 
a pity sometimes not to nurture a pet one, 

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A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

just as it does to destroy a beautiful plant 
of Wild Mustard, or of Queen Anne's Lace. 

List of Annuals, with Height, Colour and 
Period of Blooming 

Asters, all colours; one to two feet; Au- 
gust to October. 

Alyssum, white, dwarf for borders ; six inches ; 
blooms all summer if not allowed to go to seed. 

Balsam, Camellia -flowered, pale pink, dark 
red, white; two to three feet; July and 
August. 

Calendula (Pot Marigold), all shades of 
yellow; mid -July until killed by frost. 

Calliopsis (Coreopsis), yellow with red or 
brown center; two feet; mid -July, until 
killed by frost. 

Candytuft, red, white, purple. Empress 
variety white the best, fine for edging; six 
inches; blooms continually if not allowed 
to go to seed. 

Centaurea (Cornflower), all shades of blue; 
three feet; blooms three months if kept cut. 

88 



ANNUALS 

Cockscomb, crimson and scarlet; two to 
three feet; August and September. 

Cosmos, white, pink, crimson; three to ^yq 
feet; from the fifteenth of July until killed 
by frost. 

Eschscholtzia, yellow Poppies; one foot; 
blooms all summer. 

Godetia, pink, crimson, white; one foot; 
blooms all summer. 

Marigold, all shades of yellow; one to 
two and one-half feet; mid- July until killed 
by frost. 

Mignonette, average height one foot; 
blooms all summer if kept from seeding. 

Nasturtiums, all shades of yellow and 
red; dwarf, nine inches; climbing, ^ye feet; 
bloom all summer until killed by frost. 

Pansy, many colours; six inches; from 
early spring until November, if kept well cut. 

Petunia, double giant - flowered the only 
kind to raise; white, crimson and pink; one 
and one-half feet ; bloom all summer. 

Phlox Drummondii, many colours; one 
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A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

foot; blooms July, August and September 
if not allowed to seed. 

Poppy, all shades of pink and red, also 
white ; one to three feet. If several varie- 
ties are planted can be had in bloom from 
three to four weeks ; end of June and July. 

Snapdragon, scarlet and white, white and 
yellow, pure white; one and one -half feet; 
July and August. 

Stocks (German Ten- Weeks), white, pink, 
red, purple; one and one -half feet; middle 
of July until middle of September. 

Sunflower, yellow, dwarf and tall varie- 
ties, single and double; three to six feet; 
all summer. 

Sweet Peas, all colours; three feet; grown 
on bush or trellis; end of June until October 
if kept well cut and moist. 

Sweet Sultan, purple, white, yellow; one 
and one-half feet; June, July and August. 

Zinnia, many colours; one and one-half to 
two feet; July, August and September. 



90 



PERENNIALS 



CHAPTER VIII 

PERENNIALS 

^ OME of the perennials to be sown yearly 
in the seed-bed from about April first 
to tenth, are the following: v 

Columbines of all varieties, yellow, white, 
shading from pink to red and from pale 
blue to darkest purple. 

Of Columbines every garden should have 
plenty. Blooming about May twentieth for 
three weeks, they are a perfect delight. 
They are very hardy, germinate readily in 
the seed-bed, are easy to transplant and need 
but little care. I have never been able to 
get them much over three feet in height, 
but then I have often a dozen stalks of 
bloom on a single plant, which is very satis- 
factory. The first dozen plants were sent to 
me by a friend from his garden on Long 

93 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

Island; now I have hundreds of them, — sin- 
gle and double, white, yellow, all shades of 
red and pink, pale blue, and a blue one 
with a white center almost like an Orchid; 
many shades of purple, also purple and white. 

Hollyhocks, single and double, of all colours. 
In order to get the desired colour effect with 
these, keep each variety separate. 

No one can have too many Hollyhocks. 
Plant them at the back of the borders among 
the shrubbery, along fences, and in great 
clumps in any odd corner, or around build- 
ings ; they are never amiss, and always beau- 
tiful. I find that a Hollyhock cannot be 
counted upon to bloom more than three 
years. First -year stalks are about four feet 
high; afterwards, if in good soil, they will 
be from six to eight feet. There were hun- 
dreds of this size in my garden last summer, 
each plant with from three to five towering 
stalks of bloom. As soon as they have gone 
to seed, I save what seed I want and the 
stalks are then cut down and burned. By 

94. 




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PERENNIALS 

sowing the seeds as soon as thoroughly ripe 
and dry, plants can be raised which will be 
large enough to transplant in October, and 
will bloom the next year. These young plants 
should be given a slight covering the first 
winter, that they may not be winter -killed. 

When in a border, the Hollyhock, which 
will flourish in any soil, grows to such an 
extent that Lilies or Phloxes, or anything else 
near by, are likely to be crowded out, unless 
care is taken to cut off the lower leaves, which 
become enormous. I have this done usually 
three times before they bloom, beginning 
early in May, and great wheelbarrow -loads of 
leaves are taken away at each cutting. 

Sweet Williams, red, white and pink. These 
will grow from eighteen inches to two feet. 
The stems are straight and stiff, and the 
trusses of bloom about five inches across, 
with individual flowers as large as a nickel; 
they keep well in water and make a beau- 
tiful edging for a border, or give great effect 
when planted in masses. They bloom for 

95 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

three weeks or more, and make fine deco- 
rations for church or house. 

Platycodon Mariesi, beautiful blue; they 
resemble Canterbury Bells, and, as they 
blossom after the Canterbury Bells, are val- 
uable in continuing the period of blue flow- 
ers, with the advantage of being perennials. 

Delphiniums, perennial Larkspurs, aU vari- 
eties. These seeds I have found more diffi- 
cult to make germinate than any others, so 
I do not rely upon what I raise, but purchase 
many plants. My best results have come 
from saving the seeds from the first crop 
of blossoms, drying thoroughly, and then sow- 
ing at once. I have found these seeds more 
sure to germinate than those bought in early 
spring. Perhaps nature intends them to be 
sown in this way, instead of nine months later. 

One can never say enough in praise of 
Delphiniums. Three - year - old plants will 
send up eight to ten beautiful great spikes 
of the richest blue, four feet high. The 
moment a blossom withers, cut the stalk 

96 




A single plant of Delphinium (Perennial Larkspur) 
June twenty-first 



PERENNIALS 

down to the ground; another will immedi- 
ately spring up. I had four crops of blos- 
soms from some of my Delphiniums last 
summer, so that, from the end of June 
until the middle of October, there were 
always some of them in blossom. Some 
varieties of tall English Delphiniums are 
very beautiful. Among them is one, Coeles- 
tinum, of the loveliest shade of light blue, 
with very large, double individual flowers. 
As I have said before, the Delphinium blos- 
soms at the same time as Liliuvi candidum, 
and should be planted near by. Great 
bunches of these two flowers, in tall vases, 
are lovely as well as unusual. 

There is a horrid small white worm which 
attacks the roots of the Delphinium, and 
gives no sign until you see the plant dying. 
I have found that keeping the soil around 
the plant well covered with coal ashes is 
a preventive. Delphiniums are hardy and 
long-lived (unless the worm gets them), 
and, once planted, they Uve a dozen years. 

97 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

Coreopsis (Grandiflora). Every one knows 
the Coreopsis, which, by continual cutting, 
will give abundant bloom for three months. 
The variety with velvety maroon centers is 
particularly fine. 

Hibiscus is very easy to raise, and should 
be planted among and along the edge of 
shrubbery. The plants are quite hardy, grow 
four feet high, and masses of them in pink 
or white are fine. They bloom in August 
and September. 

Rockets, white and purple. These increase 
tremendously from self- sowing, so be care- 
ful or they will suffocate all that grows near 
them. I have many plants, all of which 
have come from a single one that a colored 
woman gave me a few years ago. She is a 
nice comfortable old "mammy," black as the 
ace of spades, with a great love for flowers 
and a nice patch of them. We have ex- 
changed plants several times. Some of the 
nicest things I have in my garden came to 
me in this way, and it is great fun. 

98 



PERENNIALS 

Whenever, in driving about, I see a par- 
ticularly fine plant in a dooryard, I make 
friends with its owner, and later suggest that 
if she (it is usually "she") will give me a 
small root of this or that, I will bring her 
some plants or bulbs from my garden, of a 
kind which she has not. So we are both 
equally benefited. In this way I was once 
given a plant of Valerian, which has a tall, 
beautiful white flower with a most deUcious 
odour hke vanilla. It blooms for three weeks 
in late May and early June. From this one 
plant there are now in the garden a number 
of large clumps several feet in diameter, and 
I have given away certainly fifty roots. 
Valerian is a small white flower in good-sized 
clusters on long stems, seen now- a -days only 
in old-fashioned gardens. I am told it cannot 
be bought of horticulturists. 

One must have Chrysantliemumis, but where 
the thermometer falls below zero there are 
not many to be bought, other than the pom- 
pon varieties, that will blossom in the garden 

LofC. 99 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

before being killed by frost, or that will 
survive the winter. Year after year I have 
bought dozens of the so-called " September - 
flowering Chrysanthemums," and have only 
succeeded in making them blossom by the 
middle of October, by planting them on the 
south side of a building, in richest soil, giv- 
ing abundance of water, and covering on all 
cold nights. But I have beautiful plants of 
perfectly hardy, good -sized blossoms of yel- 
low, white, pink and red, the roots of which 
have come from the gardens of my farmer 
friends. I have never been able to buy this 
old-fashioned hardy kind. In the spring, as 
soon as the plants begin to sprout, divide 
them, setting out three or four sprouts to- 
gether. In this way the stock will increase 
wonderfully. 

Chrysanthemums require very rich soil, 
must have sun, and do best against a build- 
ing or a wall. About the first of July and 
the first of September have a couple of 
trowelfuls of manure carefully dug in about 

100 



PERENNIALS 

the roots of each plant. Buds should not 
be allowed to form until September, and the 
new shoots should be pinched back until 
then, to make the plants strong and bushy. 
1 do not envy any one who has only the 
great, solemn, stiff flowers of the prize -show 
variety. An armful of the hardy garden 
ones, with their delicious odour, is worth a 
green -house full of the unnatural things 
which are the professional gardener's pride. 
When you can keep twenty or more vases 
filled from your own garden with these last 
blossoms of the year, in all their lovely 
colours, and not miss one of them from the 
plants, you will agree with me that they are 
the only kind to raise. 

Perennials, sown in rows in the seed-bed 
in April, will be nice little plants by July, 
when they should be Ufted and transplanted 
some six inches apart. The portion of the 
seed-bed where the annuals were raised can 
be used now for the purpose. This is par- 
ticularly necessary for Larkspur, Columbines, 

101 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

Monkshood, Platycodon, Coreopsis, Hibiscus 
and Pinks. If, when transplanting, each plant 
is set with a trowelful of manure, the result 
will be plants twice as large by the first of 
October, when they can be again transplanted 
to their permanent places. 

Oriental Poppies and Pinks should also 
be sown in the perennial seed-bed. 

Oriental Poppies, with great blossoms as 
large as a tea plate borne on strong stems, 
make a grand show about the end of May 
and beginning of June. 

Pinks, too, should be in every garden, if 
only for their delicious, spicy odor. The 
Chinensis, or China Pinks, are the best. 

Sweet Williams and Oriental Poppies need 
not be moved from the time they are sown 
until finally transplanted in the autumn. 

Yucca filamentosa, the hardy native of 
Mexico, sends up, about the tenth of July, 
great stalks six to eight feet high, bearing 
masses of white flowers. The individual 
blossoms are of creamy waxy texture and as 

102 




i 
U 



PERENNIALS 

beautiful as an orchid. A single stalk of 
Yucca, in a tall vase, will last nearly a 
week, and is as unusual as it is beautiful 
for house decoration. Yuccas are perfectly 
hardy, need no protection in winter, no fer- 
tiUzer, no water in dry weather. In my 
garden, at least, they have not been attacked 
by insects and have grown placidly on, 
needing absolutely no care but to have the 
stalks cut down when they have finished 
blossoming. They are most effective when 
grown in clumps, but look very well along 
a fence with Hollyhocks at the back. The 
plants are so inexpensive that I have bought 
mine, but see no reason why they cannot 
be raised from seed. Small plants form near 
the parent stem, and these can be separated 
and transplanted. A late spring frost will 
sometimes nip the flower stalk that has 
just started, and there will be no bloom that 
year. To avoid such a disaster, whenever, 
in late spring, a frosty night is suspected, 
cover the plants with a piece of burlap. 

103 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

Tritomas (Red-hot Poker Plant) bloom in 
September and October, and should always 
be planted in masses, and in full sun. They 
must be well covered with leaves or stable 
litter late in November, or they will be 
winter- killed. They increase rapidly. 

Gaillardias bloom all summer, and keep 
fresh in water for days. The plants are 
covered with long - stemmed, yellow flowers 
with dark crimson centers, and should also 
be protected in winter. 

Veronica longifolia, a most beautiful dark 
blue flower, which grows in long spikes. 
Veronica remains in bloom during the month 
of August, and is one of the most showy 
flowers in the garden at that time. 

Iris, Japanese and German, do well when 
naturalized in the grass. These plants in- 
crease so, that every four years they can be 
separated. Beginning with the German Iris, 
flowering the end of May, they can be had 
in bloom until the Japanese Iris finishes 
blossoming the middle of July. No Orchids 

104 



PERENNIALS 

are more beautiful than the Japanese Iris. 
A couple of weeks before and during the 
period of bloom they must be kept very 
moist. 

Both the German and the Japanese Iris 
are perfectly hardy and increase rapidly. The 
EngUsh Iris, of which the white variety, 
known as Mont Blanc, is the most beautiful, 
and the Spanish Iris, in all its varieties, are 
not hardy. But with careful winter cover- 
ing, about equal to that given to the ever- 
blooming Roses, they will generally survive, 
and are well worth the trouble. The roots 
of all varieties of Iris are very long, and 
care must be taken to give them plenty of 
room and to plant deep. 

Peonies, For beauty and usefulness Peo- 
nies rank with Phloxes. Large plants will 
frequently bear twenty great blossoms. By 
raising both early and late varieties, their 
period of bloom can be continued for a 
month. The old, dark crimson variety is the 
first to bloom; the old-fashioned double pink 

105 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

and double white are beautiful enough to 
satisfy any one, but the new varieties give 
immense choice as to colour and form. 

The Japanese Tree Peonies do not die to 
the ground every year, like the herbaceous 
kinds, but form woody branches and grow 
like a small shrub. The blossoms of these 
Tree Peonies are truly wonderful; the only 
care needed is a little fertilizer in the autumn 
and a slight winter covering. They are best 
grown in front of the shrubbery. They 
blossom before the herbaceous varieties. The 
herbaceous Peonies can be grown in large 
beds by themselves, in borders with other 
plants, or as single specimens in the grass 
or among the shrubs. 

Peonies start so early in the spring that 
they should be manured in the fall, or there 
is danger of breaking the tender shoots. 

Phlox. There is no flower in the garden 
more beautiful, more easily cultivated, or giv- 
ing so much bloom as the Phlox. I could 
certainly never have a garden without it. 

106 



PERENNIALS 

In mine there must be a couple of thousand. 
I have a great mass, of probably two hun- 
dred herbaceous Phloxes, growing together 
in one corner of my garden, the very tall 
varieties over four feet high. About the 
fifteenth of July, every year, this corner is 
a superb sight. Most of these plants are 
over fifteen years old. They have been kept 
fine by heaviest top-dressing every year, and 
by Hfting all the plants every three years 
and digging in quantities of manure, and 
also by separating each plant into three, by 
cutting the roots with a spade, or puUing 
apart with the fingers. 

The newer varieties of Phlox come in the 
most beautiful colours, — dark crimson, fiery 
scarlet, many shades of pink, pink striped 
with white, and pink with a white eye; all 
shades of Ulac, lilac with white and purple, 
the beautiful pure white, and the white with 
the scarlet eye. Of all the varieties, my 
favorites are the snowy white, and the 
salmon -pink with the dark red eye. Buy 

107 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

fifty large field -grown plants; at the end 
of three years separate thern, and you have 
a hundred and fifty. They present a picture 
of progression much surer than the tale of 
the eggs that were to do so much. 

Many of the individual blossoms of my 
Phloxes are larger than a fifty- cent piece; 
a number of them larger by measurement 
than a silver dollar, and the heads also are 
very large. Always erect, neat and smiling, 
never needing to be staked (such a task in a 
large garden), when once grown they must 
always be dear to a gardener's heart. By 
breaking off the heads of Phlox immediately 
after blooming, a second crop of flowers 
will appear in about three weeks. The heads 
will not be so large as the first, but they 
will amply repay the sHght trouble. 

Every owner of a garden has certain favor- 
ites; it really cannot be helped, although 
the knowledge that it is so makes it seem 
almost as unfair as for a mother to have 
a favorite child. 

108 



PERENNIALS 

A real lover of flowers finds it difficult 
to cast away a plant that has bloomed its 
best, even though the blossom is unsatis- 
factory. In my garden there are, at present, 
some plants that I am longing to dig up 
and burn. There are two climbing Roses 
that came by mistake in a large order and 
were set out. They have thriven as no 
others, cover a very large space on a trellis, 
and in June bear thousands of a most hide- 
ous, small, purplish crimson Rose. The 
other plant is Scabiosia Caucasica, Beware 
of the same. The description of it in a 
catalogue caused me to feel that without 
it the garden was nothing. A dozen were 
ordered and set out in a border, in two 
clumps. They grew and waxed strong, and 
fairly clambered over everything within 
several feet of them, seeming to be like 
gigantic thistles. Finally in August, on 
stems two feet long, the eagerly looked -for 
blossoms appeared. These were described in 
the catalogue as "a large head of pale blue 

109 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

flowers." But, to my despair, it developed a 
round green ball about three inches in cir- 
cumference, with white thistle-like petals. 
And yet the plants had surpassed them- 
selves. It seems a poor reward to turn 
them out to die. 

Lychnis (London Pride). I cannot now 
recall any perennial except the Cardinal 
Flower, which has blossoms of so brilliant a 
scarlet as Lychnis, or London Pride, growing 
tall and erect, with its bright colour. It is 
most effective when grown in large clumps. 

Monkshood {Aconitum Napellus) grows 
four feet high, and has a beautiful blossom 
of rich blue growing in quite large clusters. 
The name must come from the resemblance 
each individual blossom bears to the capuchin 
of a monk. These plants should be grown 
under tall trees, for they cannot stand too 
strong sun, and will blossom very late 
in the autumn if protected by the trees 
from frost. I gathered them last year in 
November. 

110 



PERENNIALS 

Phloxes, Rudbeckias, Monkshood, Valerian, 
Lychnis, Tritomas, Iris, Peonies and Veron- 
ica are best raised, not from seed, but by 
buying the plants, and then after a time, 
as I have said before, dividing them. For 
instance, take a fine large plant of Phlox 
of some choice variety, divide all the roots 
and set out each one separately. From one 
plant you may, in two years' time, get twenty 
splendid ones, and the same with the other 
varieties I have mentioned. 

RudbecMas, of the Golden Glow variety, 
grow from six to eight feet high, and must 
be staked, or when heavy with blossoms 
they will blow down or be beaten down by 
the rain. Each plant will bear quantities of 
long -stemmed double yellow blossoms, which 
resemble a double Dahlia. These will keep 
nearly a week in water. When the plant 
has finished blossoming, cut down the tops, 
and in October there will be a second crop 
of blossoms just above the ground. 

The Golden Glow should be divided every 
HI 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

other year, and in this way it is even more 
remunerative than the Phlox. I started 
with fifty plants, and think it will soon be 
possible to have a farm of them. 

List or Hardy Perennials, with Height, Colour and Time 
AND Period of Blooming, Arranged Alphabetically. 

Aquilegia, or Columbine, all colours; one 
to two and one -half feet; tenth of May to 
first week in June. 

Chrysanthemums^ all colours but blue; three 
feet; end of September until very cold 
weather. 

Delphiniums, all shades of blue; three to 
four feet; July; later crops after cutting 
down. 

Dianthus harhatus (Sweet William), red, 
pink, white; one to two feet; June. 

JJicentra spectabilis (Bleeding Heart), red 
and white ; one to two feet ; May. 

Gaillardia, yellow, red center; two feet; 
July, August and September until killed 
by frost. 

112 




A single plant of Phlox 
August twenty -fifth 



PERENNIALS 

Helianthus multiflorus plenus, hardy double 
Sunflower; yellow; four to five feet; all 
summer. 

Hibiscus, pink, white; four to five feet; 
August and September. 

Hollyhocks, all colours but blue; single, 
double, four to eight feet; tenth of July to 
middle of August; two to five stalks on a 
plant. 

Hyadnthus candicans, white; four feet; 
last three weeks of August. 

Iris Germanica, all colours; two to three 
feet; end of May to first of June. 

Lychnis (London Pride), scarlet ; two and 
one "half feet; July. 

Oriental Poppy, scarlet, also pink; three 
feet; end of May and first of June. 

Peonies, all colours but blue; two to two 
and one - half feet ; end of May, for three 
weeks. 

Pentstemon, many colours; three feet; 
August and September. 

Phlox, all colours; two to four feet; early 
113 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

July until killed by frost, if the heads are 
cut as soon as finished flowering. 

Platycodon Mariesi, blue ; one and one- 
half feet; August. 

Rocket {Hesperis Matronalis), white and 
purple; two feet; May. 

Rudbeckia (Golden Glow), yellow; five to 
eight feet; middle of July to September 
first; second crop in October. 

Tritoma (Red-hot Poker Plant), orange- 
scarlet ; three to four feet ; September and 
October until killed by frost. 

Valerian, white ; three feet ; May and 
June. 

Veronica longifolia, blue; two feet; August. 

Yucca filavientosa, white ; three to five feet ; 
second and third weeks in July. 



114 




d... >r 



Vase of Canterbury Bells 
June tAventv -first 



BIENNIALS AND A FEW 
BEDDING -OUT PLANTS 



CHAPTER IX 

BIENNIALS AND A FEW BEDDING-OUT PLANTS 

^ I ^ HERE are but few hardy biennials. 

The important ones, which no garden 

should be without, are : Digitalis (Foxgloves) 

and Campanula medium, (Canterbury Bells.) 

Foxgloves and Canterbury Bells bloom in 
June and July for more than a month, and 
give a touch of glory to any garden. 

Catalogues and many gardening books 
say that the seeds should be sown in early 
autumn, and the plants will bloom the fol- 
lowing year. It is true that they will bloom 
when sown in the autumn, but unless kept 
over the winter in a cold-frame the plants 
will send up stalks, only about a foot in 
height. 

Sow the seeds of Foxgloves and Canter- 
bury Bells in the shady part of the seed- 

117 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

bed in early April. Keep the young plants 
moist. About the fifteenth of July, if there 
are a large number of plants and there be 
no other place, they should be transplanted 
to the vegetable garden, where they can fol- 
low early crops of peas or lettuce. Have 
the ground spaded finely, and make shallow 
trenches, perhaps six inches deep, in which 
put a good layer of manure and cover this 
with earth, then set the plants about six 
inches apart. Keep them well watered when 
the weather is dry, and the earth thoroughly 
stirred. By the twentieth of September or 
the first of October they should be trans- 
planted to the places where they are to 
bloom the following year. The plants 
should then be a foot across, and next 
June will send up several stalks about three 
feet high. The Canterbury Bells should be 
six inches across in the fall, and the next 
year about two feet high. 

Foxgloves seed themselves with great 
abundance, unless the stalk is cut before the 

118 




A single plant of Foxglove; White Sweet William in front 
[June thirteenth 



BIENNIALS 

seed ripens. In the spring I have the little 
plants, seeded in this way from the year be- 
fore, taken from the borders and transplanted 
in rows, and find they are larger and stronger 
than any others. 

Foxgloves, white, spotted and pale lilac, 
are the pride of the garden. Plant them 
back of the Sweet Williams, in clumps of 
six or eight, or else with Peonies. They 
blossom at the same time, and the pinks or 
reds of Sweet Williams or Peonies, with 
here and there a mass of white, and the tall, 
graceful spikes of the Foxgloves rising above 
them, produce so beautiful an effect that 
you will simply have to go and look at 
them many times a day. 

Canterbury Bells, Let any one who has 
been at Oxford in June and July recall the 
Canterbury Bells in those loveliest of all 
gardens. New College and St. Johns, and she 
will not rest until they have a place in her 
garden. I did not know these flowers be- 
fore going to Oxford, and after seeing them 

119 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

could not wait to raise them from seed, but 
bought three dozen plants to look at the 
first year. The roots that came to me were 
miserable httle things, and, in spite of every 
care, half of them died. Those which lived 
and bloomed were very lovely. They begin 
to blossom with us about the sixth of June, 
and last four or five weeks. In colour they 
are white, pink, purple and blue. 

Canterbury Bells and Foxgloves are bien- 
nials. They are sown one year and grow 
for a year, then bloom and die. This seems 
a great deal of trouble for one season's 
flowers, but their beauty repays the gardener 
a hundred fold. They require a slight win- 
ter protection of leaves or stable htter, but 
care must be taken that the tops of the 
plants are not covered. 

THE BEDDING-OUT PLANTS 

And now a little about the only three 
bedding -out plants that I grow — Dahlias, 
Cannas and Gladioli. I should have said 

120 



THE BEDDING -OUT PLANTS 

four, for there is always a large bed of about 
four dozen Scarlet Salvia (the Bonfire variety- 
is the best), whose brilliant colour and sturdy 
growth cannot be spared. They begin to 
blossom in July. By driving a tall stake in 
the center, and other stakes around the 
edge of the bed of Salvia, it can be covered 
with burlaps or carriage covers when the 
nights are frosty and preserved in all its 
beauty until November. 

Dahlias can be grown in rows in the veg- 
etable garden, if there be no other place 
for them. They are decorative and desirable 
for cutting. Plant two or three tubers in a 
hill about the third week in April. They 
should be planted eight inches deep and 
three feet apart, and kept well staked. The 
soil should not be too rich, or they will all 
grow to stalk and leaf, and blossom but lit- 
tle. All the varieties are lovely, the Cactus 
kind more so, perhaps, than the others. In 
the autumn, when the tops have been killed 
by the frost, the tubers must be taken up, 

121 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

dried off carefully, and stored in a cellar 
that does not freeze. 

Gladioli can be planted from April fif- 
teenth to June fifteenth, in beds by them- 
selves or in clumps in the borders, so that 
the blossoms may be had in succession. 
Gladioli come in many colours. 

Carinas, the beautiful French varieties. 
These, of course, are most effectively grown 
in masses, and require full sun. The roots, 
like those of the Dahlias, increase so that 
there is almost double the quantity to plant 
the next spring. It is well to have the 
Cannas started in boxes in sunny windows, 
in tool-room or carriage-house, by mid-April. 
They can be kept through the winter with 
the Dahhas and Gladioli. 



122 




Vase of Foxgloves 
June fourteenth 



i 



ROSES 



^ 



CHAPTER X 

ROSES 

nnHE Rose asserts her right to the title 
of the " queen of flowers " through her 
very exclusiveness. She insists upon being 
grown apart from other plants; otherwise she 
sulks and is coy, refusing to yield more than 
an occasional bloom. I speak from expe- 
rience, having tried several times to grow 
Roses in the front of wide borders, where 
soil and sun and everything except the 
proximity of other plants was propitious. 
But they scarcely bloomed at all. Now, the 
same bushes, planted in rows so that a cul- 
tivator may be run between them, flourish 
satisfactorily. Grow Roses, then, in beds by 
themselves or in rows. 

If one has but half a dozen Roses, let 
them be grown apart from other plants. 

125 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

Pansies, however, can be grown in the 
Rose beds, as I have elsewhere described ; 
Gladioh can also be planted among them 
without detriment to either. The reason 
for this is that the roots of these two flow- 
ers are not deep and do not interfere with 
the nourishment of the Roses. 

Roses on their own roots should live for 
years, if given proper treatment. Witness 
the Rose bushes in gardens, where with but 
little care they have flourished more than a 
generation. 

Budded stock must be planted very deep. 
The joint should be at least three inches 
under ground. Roses grown on their own 
roots are more expensive than the budded 
stock, but a far better investment. The 
budded stock is apt to send up from the 
parent root suckers or shoots of Sweetbrier, 
Buckthorn, Flowering Almond, or whatever 
it may be. These shoots must be carefully 
cut off". A friend told me that, when new 
to Rose growing, his bed of budded Roses 





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ROSES 

sent up so many strange shoots that, not 
knowing what to do, he dug them all up 
but one. This he kept as a curiosity, and 
now it is a bush of Flowering Almond six 
feet in circumference. 

Everblooming Roses should be set out in 
the spring, about the middle of April. 

Hybrid Perpetual and Hardy Roses are 
best set out in autumn, about October tenth. 
When planting, always cut the plants back 
to about a foot in height. 

All Roses should be lifted every three 
years, late in October, and plenty of manure, 
with fresh earth and leaf- mould, mixed with 
sand if the soil is heavy, dug in. 

After five or six years I dig up my Roses 
about October tenth, cut the tops down to 
about twelve inches, cut out some of the old 
wood, cut off the roots considerably, trench 
the ground anew, and replant. The follow- 
ing year the Roses may not bloom very pro- 
fusely, but afterwards for four or five years 
the yield will be great. My physician in the 

m 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

country is a fine gardener, and particularly 
successful with Roses. We have many de- 
lightful talks about gardening. When I told 
him of my surgical operations upon the 
Roses he was horrified at such barbarity, 
and seemed to listen with more or less 
incredulity. So I asked him if, as a surgeon 
as well as physician, he approved, on occa- 
sion, of lopping off a patient's limbs to 
prolong his life, why he should not also 
sanction the same operation in the vegetable 
kingdom. He was silent. 

I shall not say much about Roses, because 
there is so much to say. They need a 
book by themselves, and many have already 
been written. In my garden there are not 
more than five hundred Roses, including the 
climbing varieties. They have done very well, 
and have not been given more care than 
other plants. 

For years I did not grow Roses, fearing 
they would not be a success. I had read 
about the beetles and spiders and other 



ROSES 

creatures that attack them, and dreaded the 
spraying and insect - picking that all the 
books said must be done. But, of course, 
I finally yielded to the temptation of hav- 
ing the very flower of all flowers, in my 
garden, and have found the trouble slight 
and the reward great. I have them in beds 
in a little formal garden, and in rows in a 
picking garden. 

The beds and the trenches for the rows 
are both made in the usual way, and every 
fall, in late October, before the Pansies are 
set out as already described, manure is dug 
in, and in the early spring, about the tenth 
of April, a handful of finely ground fresh 
bone-meal is stirred in around each plant 
with a trowel. They are sprayed with slug- 
shot three times between April tenth and 
May fifteenth, when they get a thorough 
spraying with kerosene emulsion, and, as a 
result, my Roses are not troubled with the 
usual pests. 

In November the hardy perpetuals are all 
129 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

cut back to about two feet in height, and 
the old wood is thinned out. The ever- 
blooming Roses are cut back to a foot in 
height. And Roses! well, really, no one 
could ask better from a garden. I have not 
many varieties, but when I left the country 
last fall, the tenth of November, although ice 
nearly an inch in thickness had formed, there 
wxre Roses still in bloom in the garden. 

The very hardy Roses, which, with a few 
exceptions, bloom only in June and early 
July, with an occasional flower in the au- 
tumn, should be planted together, as they 
need but slight covering. In late November 
the hardy ones get about a foot of stable 
litter over the beds. The everblooming 
kinds have six inches of manure, then a 
foot of leaves, and then a good covering of 
cedar branches over all. But cover late and 
uncover early (the very minute the frost is 
out of the ground), or your Roses will die. 

If asked to name, from my own experi- 
ence, the best dozen Roses, I should say the 

130 



ROSES 

following were the most satisfactory: Gen- 
eral Jacqueminot, Jubilee, Ulrich Brunner, 
Madame Plantier, Clothilde Soupert, Kaiserin 
Augusta Victoria, La France, Mrs. Robert 
Garrett, Princess Alice de Monaco, Soleil 
d'Or, Perle des Jardins, and Mrs. John Laing 
or Baroness Rothschild. Paul Neyron and 
Prince Camille de Rohan might also be 
added to the list. 

Between Mrs. John Laing and Baroness 
Rothschild, it is a toss-up. Mrs. John Laing 
is a healthy, strong Rose, and a most con- 
stant bloomer. But none that grows is 
more beautiful than the Baroness Rothschild. 
Rather a shy bloomer; still each Rose, on its 
long, strong stem, surrounded by the very 
fine foliage that distinguishes this variety, 
makes a bouquet in itself. Baroness Roths- 
child is also vigorous, and I have never seen 
it attacked by the enemies of most Roses. 

Climbing Roses have so much use, as well 
as beauty, in a garden, that my advice is, 
wherever there is an excuse for having one, 

131 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

plant it there. They do finely on the south 
side of a house, on arches, summer-houses 
and trellises. I have a trellis along one 
side of a grass walk three hundred and fifty 
feet long. At each post are planted two 
Roses, a Crimson Rambler and a Wichu- 
raiana. The Wichuraiana blossoms when the 
Rambler is done. Imagine the beauty of 
this treUis when the Roses are in bloom! 
On the other side of this walk there is a 
border four feet wide, with shrubs at the 
back, filled, all of the three hundred and 
fifty feet, with many varieties of perennials, 
also with Lilies and annuals planted in 
wherever a foot of space can be found. 

All of the Ramblers are good, but none 
blooms so luxuriantly as the crimson. The 
Climbing Clothilde Soupert, Baltimore Belle 
and Climbing Wootton are also fine. Of 
the Wichuraiana Hybrids, Jersey Beauty and 
Evergreen Gem are the best. The foliage 
is lovely, and the perfume of the flowers 
delicious. 

132 



ROSES 

The Climbing Roses should be yearly en- 
riched in the spring with manure and bone- 
meal, and, after two years, some old wood 
should be cut out every autumn. Many of 
the Crimson Ramblers and Wichuraiana in 
my garden made growth last summer of 
splendid great canes, larger around than 
one's thumb and from ten to fourteen feet 
long. Monday was the day for tying and 
training the Roses, and often it seemed 
impossible for them to grow so much in a 
week. It would have been incredible, had 
we not the actual proof before our eyes. 

List of Hybrid Perpetual and Hardy Roses Blooming in June, 
WITH AN Occasional Bloom in September 

• Red 
General Jacqueminot. 

Prince Camille de Rohan, (darkest Rose of all). 
Jubilee. 

Baron Bonstetten. 
General Washington. 
John Hopper. 
Ulrich Brunner. 
Victor Verdier. 

133 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

Pink 

Mrs. John Laing (constant' bloomer). 

Anne de Diesbach. 

La France (blooms all summer). 

Magna Charta. 

Mme. Gabriel Luizet. 

Baroness Rothschild. 

Paul Neyron. 

WJiite 
Margaret Dickson. 
Coquette des Alpes. 

White Maman Cochet (blooms continually). 
Madame Plantier (blooms continually). v -: ,' 
Coquette des Blanches. 
Mme. Alfred Carriere. 
Marchioness of Londonderry. 

Yellow 

I know but two hardy yellow Roses: 

The Persian Yellow. 
Soleil d'Or. 

The monthly or everblooming Roses, which 
need very heavy covering in winter, should 
be planted together. The following are a 
few of the best and most constant bloomers: 

Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, white. 
Bride, white. 

1S4 



ROSES 

Clothilde Soupert, white with faint blush center. 
Madame Hoste, creamy white. 
Perle des Jardins, yellow. 
Sunset, yellow. 

Mile. Germaine Trochon, yellow. 
American Beauty, rich crimson. 
Marion Dingee, deep crimson. 
Souvenir de Wootton, crimson. 
Bridesmaid, pink. 
Hermosa, pink. 
Madame de Watteville, pink. 
Burbank, pink. 
Mrs. Robert Garrett, pink. 

Princess Alice de Monaco, petals white, edged with 
blush-pink. 



135 



LILIES 



CHAPTER XI 

LILIES 

X ILIES, too, should have a book for them- 
selves. My knowledge of them is slight. 
Lilium auratum (Auratum Lily), the grand- 
est of all Lilies, disappears after a few years. 
If large-sized bulbs are bought there will 
be the first year from twenty to thirty Lilies 
on a stalk four feet high, the second year 
seven to ten, the third year perhaps two 
or three, but oftener none at all. If you 
then dig for the bulb, lo! it is gone. The 
expense, therefore, of these Lilies is great, 
from their having to be often renewed. 
Still, do not fail to have them, if possible, 
for nothing can take their place. They bloom 
from the middle of July for about a month. 
I wrote to an authority on Lilies to ask 
the cause of this disappearance. He told 

139 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

me that, as soon as planted in this country, 
a microbe disease attacked them and they 
gradually disappeared under its ravages. Bot- 
anists surely should find a specific, or anti- 
dote for this; but perhaps, like some of the 
most terrible diseases of the human being, 
it evades all research. Miss Jekyll, in her 
book on Lilies for English Gardens, in speak- 
ing of Lilium auratum says: 

"This grand Lily, well planted, and left 
alone for three years, will probably then 
be at its best. After this the bulbs will 
be likely to have increased so much that 
it will be well to divide them." 

This would seem to imply that the Aura- 
tums thrive in England. Well, they have 
climate in England, even if we have weather, 
and English gardens will always fill Ameri- 
can gardeners with despair. 

Lilium candidum, which blooms before the 
other Lilies, is hardy and fragrant and in- 
creases rapidly. These Lihes must have full 
sun and hght soil. About every three or four 

140 



LILIES 

years they can be separated, which should 
be done as soon as the stalks turn yellow, 
as the bulb makes an autumn growth. For 
this reason the Candidums must always be 
bought and planted by the tenth of Sep- 
tember. Other Lilies may be planted in the 
spring, when the frost leaves the ground, 
or in October. 

Lilium speciosum ruhrum thrives and in- 
creases in our climate, needs a partly shaded 
location and, therefore, does well when 
planted among Rhododendrons. It blooms 
after the Auratum, the end of August 
and first two weeks of September. 

Lilium speciosum album blooms at the 
same time as Lilium ruhrum. It is a beau- 
tiful pure white Lily with wax-like curved 
petals, grows best in full sun, and averages 
six Lilies on a stalk, although I have often 
counted more. 

Lilium longiflorum blooms early in July. 
These lilies are very much like the Bermuda 
Lily, except that they have, as a rule, about 

14X 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

four blossoms on a stalk, and are hardy. In 
my garden they have not increased. 

Hansoni, a Japanese Lily, flowering in 
June ; bright yellow in color ; perfectly 
hardy and very desirable. 

Lilium Canadense (the Meadow Lily), yel- 
low, red and orange, increases, and is very 
satisfactory, but likes as moist a situation as 
possible. 

Tigrinum, the old Tiger Lilies, both sin- 
gle and double. These bloom in July, in- 
crease rapidly, and by planting, when fully 
ripened, the little black bulbils which form 
on the stalk, any number of bulbs can be 
raised. 

FunMa subcordata is the old-fashioned 
white Day Lily of our grandmothers' gar- 
dens. The broad leaves of this plant are 
almost as handsome as the spikes of bloom. 
These Lilies flower best when grown in the 
sun, but then the leaves turn yellow — so 
give them a partly shaded place. 

Funkia cceridea, with the blue blossom, 
142 



LILIES 

is worthy of a place in the garden, though 
far from being as effective as the white- 
flowered variety. I also grow the kind with 
the small white and green variegated leaves 
for the sake of the foliage, so useful in 
house decoration. 

Funkias are not, botanically speaking, 
Lilies, but are mentioned in this chapter 
because popularly known as Day Lilies and 
on account of the lily- like form of their 
blossoms. 

Lily-of-the-valley should have a place in 
every garden. Absolutely hardy, requiring 
no care, it blooms prolifically in early May, 
fills the air with its fragrance, and is beloved 
by every one. The German name for this 
flower, Mai Glocken (May Bells) is partic- 
ularly appropriate. 1 have heard of one 
woman whose bed of these flowers, four feet 
by fifty feet, has yielded as many as twenty 
thousand sprays in one season. The pips 
can be set out the end of October or the 
beginning of November. If the bed is quite 

14S 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

large, when the Lihes have finished bloom- 
ing, some can be hfted here and there and 
transplanted. As the pips increase rapidly, 
their places will soon be filled. Lihes -of- 
the- valley do best in a partially shaded place, 
and require a deep, rich soil, well mixed with 
leaf- mould. 

A Lily bed should be prepared, if the 
place is damp and drainage not good, by 
digging out the soil for three feet, and put- 
ting a foot of cobblestones in the bottom; 
then fill up with a mixture of good soil, leaf- 
mould and sand, and very old, well -rotted 
manure. In the ordinary garden that is not 
wet, two feet are enough to dig out the 
bed, and the cobblestones can be omitted. 
Lilies should always be set with a handful 
of sand around the bulb, to prevent any 
possibility of manure coming in contact with 
it, as the manure will destroy the bulb. 

In my garden there is no special place pre- 
pared for the Lilies, but they are grown in 




Vase of Lilium auratum 
August second 



LILIES 

all the borders, the Rubrums in the shade, 
the others in the sun, and this year there 
have been thousands of them. If there are 
no woods near, where the men can gather 
leaf- mould, have the rakings of the autumn 
leaves put in a pile, cover with boards, and 
occasionally during the spring and summer 
have them well forked over; the next autumn 
there will be a quantity of the finest thing 
for Lilies, Rhododendrons, Ferns, or indeed 
any kind of plant. This should be mixed in 
a pile in the proportion of one wheelbarrow 
of mould, two of good soil, two coal-scuttle- 
fuls of wood ashes, one -half barrow of old 
manure and. two spadefuls of fine bone-meal. 
There is also nothing better for the Roses 
than some of this mixture. 

All Lilies do better if well mulched with 
clippings of lawn grass or with very old 
manure. 

The varieties of Lilies mentioned are the 
easiest grown and the most satisfactory. 

Lihes should always be planted in clumps 
U5 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

of the same kind — never less than six, and 
the number increased according to the size 
of the garden. Alternate clumps of a dozen 
each of Lilium auratum and Lilium album 
planted in a border just behind Foxgloves 
and Canterbury Bells will come into bloom 
when these two biennials have finished, the 
Auratum first, then the Album \ these four 
flowers will keep the border gay from early 
in June until the middle of September. 

Lilies should be planted about eight inches 
deep, and have a covering of Utter late in 
the autumn. 



146 




Vase of ZAIium speciosum album and rubrum 
September sixth 



SPRmG-FLOWERING BULBS 



CHAPTER XII 

SPRING-FLOWERING BULBS 

T>ULBS can be planted at any time in the 
■^"^ autumn before the ground freezes; the 
first week in November is as good a time 
as any. The cost of Tuhps, Narcissi and 
Daffodils is not great. They multiply and 
need not be disturbed for three or four 
years. 

Snowdrops. The earliest of all flowers to 
bloom is the Snowdrop. After the long, cold 
winter, with the melting of the snow and 
the first suspicion of milder air, these frail 
beauties send up their graceful bells of white. 
With what triumph the first one is found 
and brought to the house, and what a thrill 
of joy it gives to know that spring will soon 
be here ! Snowdrops can be planted thickly 
in the borders and also, hke Crocuses, in 

149 



A WOMAN^S HAKDY GARDEN 

the grass. The foliage of both will die 
before it is time to mow the lawn. 

Crocuses, which should be planted in the 
grass, will begin to bloom as soon as the 
Snowdrops pass. The gay little things 
make the lawn, while still brown, a carpet 
of bright colors. I heard of a gentleman 
who planted ten thousand of them in this 
way, and was rewarded by a most beautiful 
display at a time when there were no other 
flowers. 

Tulips I plant everywhere in the borders 
about four inches apart, all kinds, such as 
single, double, Gesnerianas and Parrot Tulips ; 
but always a quantity of only one kind to- 
gether. The bed where later the Salvias are 
put, has three hundred Golden Yellow Tulips. 
"^Yhen these have faded, the Salvia plants are 
set out in the same bed, without disturbing 
the bulbs. This can be done if the men are 
careful, and when the Tuhp leaves are quite 
yellow they are cut off (for unless allowed 
to ripen the bulb does not grow and mul- 

150 




Garden arch, covered with Japanese Gourdt 
August twenty -seventh 



SPRING-FLOWERING BULBS 

tiply.) Every three years all Tulips are dug 
up in the autumn, after the Salvias have 
died ; the bed is then made very rich, and the 
Tulips reset. There are generally more than 
enough to refill the bed. The same treat- 
ment is pursued in the Canna bed, only 
here the Tulips are double white. 

Tulips will bloom from April twentieth 
until the last of May, if both the very early 
as well as the late kinds are planted. The 
late varieties are the Parrot and Gesneriana, 
which latter grow two feet high and are 
very showy. 

I have been constantly surprised to find 
that many good gardeners take up all bulbs 
when through flowering in the spring, store 
through the summer and replant in the 
autumn. This is not only unnecessary, but 
it is better for the bulbs to remain in the 
ground as nature intended. Mine have always 
been so treated and have been successful. 

In planting bulbs in newly prepared soil, 
great care must be taken that they do not 

151 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

come in contact with manure. To prevent 
this, the man should have a box of sand, 
in a handful of which each bulb should 
be set. Spring flowering bulbs should be 
planted about four inches deep. 

Poeticus Narcissus and Daffodils, both 
single and double, do well when natural- 
ized in grass that need not be cut until 
the foliage of the bulb has died in June. 
They also make a very good edging for a 
border along a walk. 

The single Van Sion and Emperor Nar- 
cissus are excellent varieties. The old- 
fashioned sweet-scented Jonquil and double 
Van Sion, or Double Yellow Daffodil, are 
as satisfactory as any of the numerous kinds 
named in the catalogues. One early spring, 
the Double Yellow Daffodils were all in 
bloom on the tenth of April. 

Narcissi and Daffodils live for generations. 
I know some double yellow Daffodils grow- 
ing in my great-grandfather's garden, that were 
planted over seventy years ago. The place was 
_ 152 



SPRING-FLOWERING BULBS 

sold and the house burned about thirty years 
since, and all this time has been entirely 
neglected. Some one told me that Daffodils 
and Narcissi still bloomed there bravely in 
the grass. With a cousin, one lovely day 
last spring, I took the train out to this old 
place and there found quantities of the dainty 
yellow flovi^ers. We had come unprovided 
with any gardening implements, having noth- 
ing of the kind in town, and brought only a 
basket for the spoils, and a steel table-knife. 
We quickly found the knife of no avail, so 
borrowed a sadly broken coal-shovel from 
a tumble-down sort of a man who stood gaz- 
ing at us from the door of a tumble-down 
house. The roots of the Daffodils were very 
deep, and neither of us could use a spade, so 
the driver of the ramshackle wagon taken 
at the station was pressed into service. 
Handling of shovel or spade was evidently 
an unknown art to him. The Daffodil roots 
were nearly a foot deep , but we finally got 
them, several hundreds of them, all we could 

153 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

carry. The driver seemed to think us some- 
what mad and said "Them's only some kind 
of weed," but when I told him the original 
bulbs from which all these had come were 
planted by my great -grandmother and her 
daughter, and that I wanted to carry some 
away, to plant in my own garden, he be- 
came interested and dug with all his heart. 
The bulbs were in solid clumps a foot across 
and had to be pulled apart and separated. 
They were the old Double Yellow Daffodil 
and a very large double white variety, the 
edges of the petals faintly tinged with yellow 
and delightfully fragrant. My share of the 
spoils is now thriving in my garden. By 
the process of division every three years, 
these Daffodils can be made to yield indefi- 
nitely, and perhaps some great-grandchild of 
my own may gather their blossoms. 

Hyacinthsy too, should have a place in 
the spring garden. They are more expen- 
sive, as a rule, than Tulips, Narcissi and 
Daffodils, but, in large or small quantities, 

154 





^' 




w 



Vase of Phlox; single blossoms actual size 
^August second 



SPRING-FLOWERING BULBS 

are well wortlj the money. The single va- 
rieties are generally preferred, while, of all 
kinds, the white and pale blue are the 
loveliest. 

Nothing in the garden gives so much 
pleasure as the early spring flowers. Per- 
haps this is because they are the first to 
bloom. Every one knows how beautiful the 
first lovely Dandelion seems, gold -starring 
the new grass. Many bulbs can be had for 
little money, and I would say to all, plant 
as many as you can squeeze in. From April 
fifteenth to May fifteenth I receive in town, 
twice a week, great boxes of spring flowers 
from my garden, enough each time to fill 
sixteen to twenty vases; yet my orders to 
the men are to cut always so that the flow- 
ers cannot be missed from the garden. 



155 



SHRUBS 



J^ 

r^,* 



^■'■vmi^*' 






•^■' t**.. 



a; 
I - 

i| 
> -B 

en 






5^':*t.., 



CHAPTER XIII 

SHRUBS 

^^F the hundreds of shrubs, comparatively 
few survive the severe winter chmate of 
interior New York, or grow very luxuriantly. 
Lilacs of all varieties, white and purple, 
single and double; Deutzias, white and pink; 
and Syringa, the improved large - flowered 
variety, are most beautiful. Spircea Van 
Houttei, sometimes called Bridal Wreath, 
with its long trails of white blossoms; and 
Viburnum plicatum, or Japanese Snowball, 
which in late May bears a ball of bloom on 
every twig and is both healthy and hardy, 
are also desirable shrubs. The old variety 
of Snowball is attacked by a bhght, the 
leaves curl up and grow black and the 
blooms are imperfect. A few years ago I 
dug up all of mine and burned them. 

159 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

Altheas, or Kose of Sharon, — not by any 
means the old purplish red variety, but the 
beautiful new double white and double pale 
pink kinds, with blossoms coming in August 
and reminding one of Camellias, — are indis- 
pensable. Do not fail to have Hydrangea 
panicidata, with its great heads of white 
bloom, slowly changing to dull pink, and 
lasting quite six weeks. 

Japanese Barberry, a dwarf shrub, covered 
in autumn with scarlet berries which remain 
on the bush all winter, is very ornamental. 
Many of us remember Calycanthus Jloridus, or 
the Sweet-scented Shrub of our young days, 
when the children would tie two or three 
of the queer brown blossoms in the corner 
of a handkerchief to regale their less fortu- 
nate companions with a sniff of the delicious 
odor. Forsythia and Laburnum, or Golden 
Chain, both have yellow blossoms. Others 
are, Weigela Rosea, the well-known pink- 
flowering shrub; Rhus Cotinus, or Purple 
Fringe, and Cydonia Japonica, or Japanese 

160 



SHRUBS 

Quince, deep rose - pink, flowering early in 
the spring. 

These all yield beautiful flowers, beside 
being hardy and of rapid growth. 

All shrubs should be trimmed as soon as 
they have finished flowering, but only enough 
to prevent their becoming spindling, with the 
exception of Hydrangea grandiflora, which 
should be trimmed back, at least three- 
quarters of the new growth, every year. 

It is important, also, to thin out the old 
wood of most shrubs after five or six years. 

Shrubs can be grown from cuttings if one 
has patience to wait for the result. But as 
it takes from three to four years' time and 
considerable care to grow a shrub that would 
cost but twenty cents, for which price many 
varieties of shrubs can be bought, few 
people care to raise them. 

On a large place it might be worth while 
to raise shrubs from cuttings. And where 
there is plenty of space, a small nursery of 
them might be kept. 

161 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

At the end of June take clippings about 
a foot long, make a shallow trench in 
good ground and plant them a couple of 
inches deep. They should be well rooted, in 
about six weeks. If the weather be dry, 
after planting them, they must be watered 
daily. The following spring they should be 
reset, a foot apart, where they can grow 
until transplanted to their final resting 
place. I know a beautiful hedge of Cydonia 
Japonica, or Japanese Quince, that has been 
grown from cuttings. Privet can easily be 
grown from cuttings, and I have raised Box 
from clippings. Fortunately, the season was 
a wet one, for if allowed to become dry 
before being well rooted, they would prob- 
ably have died. 

List of Most Satisfactory Shrubs 

Altheas, pink or white; blooms in August. 
Jeanne dArc, pure double white, the best. 
Grows six to eight feet in five years; must 
be trimmed in October. 

162 



SHRUBS 

Berberis Thunbergii, or Barberry, of slow 
growth; about three feet high; desh-able for 
its beautiful foliage and scarlet fruit in 
winter. 

Calycanthus floridus, or Sweet-scented 
Shrub. It yields its brown blossoms the 
end of May; slow -growing; requires but 
little trimming; height, five to six feet. 

Cydonia Japonica, Japanese Quince, has 
brilliant red blossoms in early May; grows 
six to seven feet high. 

Deutzia crenata, variety of pale pink, and 
Candidissima, white ; of rapid growth, and 
very high; six to eight feet in five years. 

Forsythia blooms in April with masses 
of yellow flowers; moderate, quick growth; 
seldom over six feet high. 

Hydrangea paniculata grandijiora, the 
finest of all hardy shrubs. The flowers 
are great panicles of white. They bloom 
about the first of August and remain beau- 
tiful for six weeks, slowly changing to a 
soft, dull pink. This shrub is most effec- 

163 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

tive when grown in masses of a dozen or 
more, although single specimens are very 
fine. They must be vigorously cut back 
late every fall, leaving only about six inches 
of new growth. 

Lilac, common purple and common white; 
also Marie Legray, a fine white Lilac, and 
Madame Lemoine, a new double variety bear- 
ing very large trusses of flowers. All of 
these varieties of Lilac grow high and rapidly 
— frequently eight feet in six years. They 
require Uttle or no pruning. It is sufficient 
to cut the blossoms either before or after 
they go to seed. 

Lonicera rosea and Lonicera alhida, up- 
right Honeysuckles, in shrub form, vigorous, 
quick -growing, requiring but slight pruning 
in late autumn. They flower in May, and 
in midsummer are covered with beautiful 
berries. 

Magnolia conspicua, with large white blos- 
soms, blooms the middle of April; Soulan- 
geana has large pink flowers and blossoms 

164 



SHRUBS 

the end of April. Magnolias should be 
pruned when set out, and should be moved 
only in spring. 

Philadelphus syringa, or Mock Orange ; 
grandiflorus is. the finest. The flowers are 
pure white, very fragrant and bloom about 
the middle of June. The shrub grows high, 
is perfectly hardy and in every way satisfac- 
tory. It should be trimmed as soon as it 
has finished blossoming. Cut back about 
three-quarters of the new growth; it will 
then send out side shoots and become 
continually thicker. 

Privet, The common Privet is of very 
rapid growth and excellent for a screen. It 
should be trimmed the end of June, but only 
enough to prevent its becoming scraggly. 
The California Privet is not so hardy. 

Rhus Cotinus, popularly known as Smoke 
Tree or Purple Fringe, grows as high as a 
small tree and requires almost no pruning. 
In midsummer it is covered with fine, 
mist-like, purple flowers. 

165 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

Spircea Van HoutteL This is one of the 
most satisfactory shrubs; is rather dwarf in 
habit, growing about five feet high. The end 
of May it is covered with clusters of white 
flowers on long, pendulous branches. Trim 
as soon as it has finished blooming, cutting 
off about half of the new growth. 

Spii^cea Anthony Watei^er, another Spirea, 
very dwarf, only about a foot in height, and 
covered with bright crimson flowers from 
June to October. 

Vihurnum pUcatum, Japan Snowball, one 
of the finest shrubs. It grows about six 
feet high, and is completely covered with 
its balls of snow in early June. It requires 
comparatively little trimming. 

Weigela. — The two most satisfactory vari- 
eties of this shrub are Candida, whose 
blossoms are white, and Rosea, with pink 
flowers. They bloom most freely about the 
tenth of June, when each shrub becomes a 
mass of flowers. Care inust be taken to 
cut out the old wood from time to time, 

166 



SHRUBS 

and to trim after the shrub has finished 
blooming. 

A Few Evergreen Shrubs 

Of evergreen shrubs, Kalmia latifolia, 
or Mountain Laurel, is most satisfactory, 
growing three to four feet high. It is cov- 
ered in early June with large clusters of pale 
pink and white flowers. 

Rhododendron maximum, the large-leaved 
hardy American variety. Under cultivation 
this shrub seldom grows more than six feet 
high ; in the woods it is found much larger. 

Japanese Holly, a dense -growing shrub 
about four feet high, with deep glossy green 
fohage. 

Tree Box, generally trimmed in standard 
or pyramidal form and very slow-growing. 

Perennial Vines and Creepers 

Ampelopsis quinquefolia, Virginia Creeper. 
Ampelopsis Veitchi, Boston Ivy. 
Aristolochia Sipho, Dutchman's Pipe. 
Bignonia radicans. Trumpet Creeper. 
167 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

Clematis paniculata, clusters of fine white 
flowers. 

Clematis Henryi, large white flowers. 

Clematis Jackmani, large purple flowers. 

English Ivy. 

Honeysuckle, Hall's Japan, Golden Japan. 

Hops, 

Vitis Coignetice, Japanese ornamental grape- 
vine ; rapid grower. 

Wistaria, both purple and white. 

A Few of the Best Annual Vines 

Cobcea scandens, purple and white. 

Moonjlower, white. 

Japanese Morning-glory, all colors. 

Passion Flower, blue and white; must be 
started very early, and if well protected 
will sometimes survive the winter. 

Japanese Gourd. This must be descended 
from Jonah's Gourd of biblical fame, as it 
often grows from forty to fifty feet in a 
summer. It has yellow flowers and gourds, 
and is very decorative. 

168 



WATER, WALKS, 

LAWNS, BOX-EDGINGS, SUN-DIAL 

AND PERGOLA 



CHAPTER XIV 

WATER, WALKS, LAWNS, BOX -EDGING, SUN-DIAL 
AND PERGOLA 

TT is not advisable to arrange for a garden 
of any size without considering the ques- 
tion of water. Within the hmits of a town 
supply there is only the comparatively simple 
matter of laying the pipes. But when the 
place is dependent upon its own water sys- 
tem, the amount to be counted upon and the 
situation of the garden with reference to the 
source of supply must be seriously considered. 
If possible the garden hydrants should not 
be more than fifty feet apart. This greatly 
facilitates watering. When further apart, 
plants are in danger of being injured by the 
unwieldy hose. A nozzle that will regulate 
the flow of water from a fine spray to a 
strong stream will be found convenient. 

171 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

Opinions differ upon the best way to lay- 
water-pipes through a place, some preferring 
to put them but a foot under ground, and 
turn off the water in winter ; others lay them 
in trenches three and a half to four feet deep, 
so that they are beyond all danger from frost. 
This latter plan was followed in my garden and 
I recommend it as being most satisfactory. 

The watering of a garden requires nearly 
as much judgment as the seasoning of a 
soup. Keep the soil well stirred and loose 
on the surface, going through the garden, 
where possible, with a rake; and if there is 
no room for a rake, stir gently with a trowel 
every five days or once a week. In this 
way moisture will be retained in the soil, 
since the loose earth acts as a mulch. 

When watering, be generous. Soak the 
plants to the roots ; wet all the earth around 
them, and do it late in the afternoon, when 
the sun is low. How often have I been 
obliged to chide the men for watering too 
early in the afternoon, and not doing it thor- 

172 




Vase of double hardy Sunflowers {Helianthus multifloriis plenus) 
September fifteenth 






: 

i 



WATER— WALKS 

oughly, for, upon stirring the ground, I 
would find that the water had penetrated 
but a couple of inches. During long periods 
of dry weather, the garden, without water, 
will simply wither and burn. 

Rhododendrons, Ferns and Lilies suffer 
in dry time, even though well mulched, and 
must be kept moist. 

Japanese Iris blooms but indifferently 
unless quite wet. 

When dry weather continues for a long 
period I divide the garden into three parts ; 
one part is thoroughly watered every evening, 
and the following day the soil is stirred. 
In this way the plants suffer comparatively 
little. For years we had no water supply 
through the gardens, and really, in dry 
weather, life had no pleasure for me because 
of my unhappiness at the sight of the 
withered garden. I would drag watering 
cans about, and beg and bribe all the family 
to do likewise. Every afternoon, about five 
o'clock, one of the men would fill eight ten- 

173 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

gallon milk -cans with water, put them in 
a wagon, and drive about the place water- 
ing the flower beds and borders. Frequently 
he would fill these cans three times in one 
afternoon. This, as may be imagined, was 
slow and unsatisfactory work, and, except in 
the case of a small garden, is too great a task. 
Often in a dry time, after dinner, I bethink 
me of the Rhododendrons or Ferns or Iris, 
or some other plants to which drought means 
death, and I feel sure "that boy has not 
watered them enough." Then, in ten min- 
utes the garden skirt, shoes and gloves are 
on, and those thirsty plants get a drenching 
to their very roots such as they would never 
receive from any perfunctory "boy" or gar- 
dener. I go to bed warm and weary, yet 
sleep is sweet from satisfaction at the 
thought of the garden's happiness. 

WALKS 

Unquestionably, walks near the house 
should be graveled ; they naturally have too 

174 



WATER— WALKS 

hard usage to keep turf in good condition. 
Graveled walks should be dug out a foot or 
more in depth, filled in with broken stone, 
this covered well with coarse gravel, and 
finished with a coating of a couple of inches 
of whatever fine gravel is chosen. A walk 
thus made will be dry and well drained 
and weeds have little chance to grow. 

The most beautiful walks of all are those 
of grass. Strange to say, they are seldom 
seen in this country. Through any garden, 
some little distance from the house, where 
they will be walked on only by those going 
to the garden, the turf-walks, with ordinary 
care, will last well, require only the usual 
cutting with the lawn-mower, and, especially 
if edged with Box, should be the very pride 
and joy of the possessor's heart. 

The ground for such walks should be spaded 
deeply with plenty of manure, raked care- 
fully and made very smooth. Prepare in 
September, and by the fifteenth or twen- 
tieth sow, very thickly, a mixture of oug- 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

third each to the bushel of Kentucky Blue 
Grass, Long Island Bent Grass and Red 
Top. Roll thoroughly, and if the weather 
be dry have the newly sown paths sprinkled 
daily and kept moist. The tender grass 
should appear in two weeks, and will 
continue to grow during October. 

About Thanksgiving time of the first year, 
cover with a layer of straw, and uncover 
about the twenty-fifth of March. At this 
time it is well to sow thinly some more 
grass seed of the same kinds, and again roll, 
the reason for the additional spring sowing 
being to replace any of the grass that may 
have been winter -killed. About the twen- 
tieth of April spread cotton-seed meal, the 
best of all fertilizers for grass, all over the 
paths. For years we have had the lawns 
covered with stable manure in February 
and raked off the first of April, and for 
years I have waged war with the weeds 
and wild grasses. But sow cotton-seed meal 
early in April, and if possible give the path^ 

176 



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Vase of Monkshood 
September thirtieth 



LAWNS— BOX-EDGING 

a little wood -ashes in June; the result will 
be a hundred per cent better than from the 
use of manure. Cotton -seed meal should not 
be sown too thickly, and wood -ashes must 
be spread thinly, so as not to burn the 
grass. 

The men tell me that a sharp -pointed 
mason's trowel is more satisfactory than any 
other tool for removing weeds from the 
lawns and grass paths. If this is carefully 
attended to the end of May, and again the 
latter part of June, and only artificial fer- 
tilizer used, there will be but little trouble 
with weeds in the grass. 

BOX-EDGING 

Box edging should be set out in the 
spring, that it may be thoroughly rooted 
before winter. 

Great care must be taken in setting out 
the Box, that the row be absolutely straight 
and even. The garden cord is carefully 
stretched ; a shallow, narrow trench is dug 

177 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

with the spade, and then the httle plants 
are placed about three inches apart, each 
plant against the string. The trench is half 
filled in with earth, then a layer of ma- 
nure, and finally more earth packed down. 
Box planted in this way should grow and 
thrive, especially if given, along in May, a 
little bone-meal. 

I write feelingly of Box edging to-day. 
Last week. Holy Week, I spent in the 
country, and most of my time was passed 
on my knees. For, when not at church or 
driving the intervening five miles, I was set- 
ting out plants in the garden, and that, like 
one's prayers, requires kneeling. Four men 
were working, setting out plants and trees, 
but the earth was so sweet and warm and 
brown that it was impossible to keep away 
from it. With trowel in hand and joy in 
my heart, I set out hundreds of little Box 
plants, transplanted Columbines, Foxgloves 
and Canterbury Bells. Big robins were hop- 
ping tamely about, calling to one another; 

173 



LAWNS— BOX-EDGING 

blackbirds and meadow -larks were singing 
their refrains; the brave plants were pushing 
their way through the earth to new life, and 
I thought how good it was to be alive, to 
have a garden to dig in, and, above all, to 
be well and able to dig. 

With work in the garden care and worry 
vanish. The cook (as some cooks of mine 
have done) may announce that " 'tis a woild 
waste of a place. I be lavin' the mornin'." 
The hamper of meat does not arrive on the 
one train from town, or somebody smashes 
something very dear to your heart, — just go 
to the garden, tie up some Roses or vines, 
or poke about with a trowel, and though 
murder may have been in your thoughts, in 
half an hour serenity will return. And what 
does it all matter, anyway ? Another maid 
can cook for a few days, and there are 
always bacon and eggs. 

Philosophy is inevitably learned in a gar- 
den. Speaking of eggs, I think of hens. 
Living on a farm, of course there have al- 

179 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

ways been hens and chickens. These crea- 
tures were provided with houses and yards 
and fences, and given every inducement to 
remain where they belonged ; yet with diabol- 
ical ingenuity they would escape from their 
quarters, dig under the fence, fly over it, or 
some one would leave a door or a gate open, 
and then, with one accord, all the flock would 
make for the gardens and scratch and roll 
in the borders. This sort of thing happened 
repeatedly, until I felt there must be a 
league between the farmer's wife and the 
hens. But the limit of endurance was 
reached when, one afternoon, coming out to 
look at a bed of several dozen Chrysanthe- 
mums set out in the morning, I found the 
poor plants all scratched out of the ground, 
broken and wilted. Then in wrath the fiat 
went forth, "No more hens on this farm, 
those on hand to be eaten at once." For 
days a patient family had hen soup, hen 
croquettes, hen salad and hen fricassee, until 
the last culprit came to her end. 

180 



SUN-DIAL— PERGOLA 

SUN-DIAL 

There is no more charming and interest- 
ing addition to a garden than a sun-dial. 
For hundreds of years sun-dials have been 
used as timekeepers, and though some of 
the very old ones were occasionally set into 
the facade of a building, they are generally 
found in the plaisaunce or garden, mounted 
upon quaint pedestals. Sun-dials are sup- 
posed, by their owners, to keep accurate 
time, but it must be remembered that there 
is always a difference between clock -time 
and sun -time. While, to-day, our lives are 
frequently portioned into minutes, and it 
would seem as if one might loiter and be 
lazy in a garden, if anywhere, still even 
among the flowers we find a ''tempus 
fugit" For a time after my sun-dial was 
set, it was amusing to notice how often, 
about half after eleven o'clock, and again 
at five, this late addition to the garden 
would claim the attention of the workmen. 

181 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

My sun-dial stands in the center of a 
formal garden where four paths meet, form- 
ing a circle twenty feet across. The pedestal 
is a simple column of marble, four and one- 
half feet high, slightly tapering toward the 
top, with beveled corners. This is placed 
on a stone foundation three and one-half feet 
deep, laid in cement. The pedestal I found 
at the yard of a second-hand building-material 
man, on Avenue B, in New York city. 
After it had been set in place, I wanted it 
rubbed up and a chipped place smoothed. 
The only available man for this work, was 
the gravestone-cutter from the nearest town. 
When he was recognized at work in the 
garden by passing countrymen, they sup- 
posed, of course, that some one was buried 
there, and many have been the inquiries as 
to "whose be that mouny-ment." 

Crimson Rambler Koses twine about the 
pedestal. At the corners of the four paths 
are standard Box trees, which stand like 
sentinels, and between them there are Bay 

182 



SUN-DIAL— PERGOLA 

trees in terra -cotta vases of simple shape — 
copies of antique ones. 
. The dial made for the latitude bears this 
inscription, " Utere praesenti, memor ultimae" 
(Use the present hour, mindful of the last), 
which I found in an old book on sun- 
dials in the Avery Library, at Columbia 
University. 

PERGOLA 

Across the end of this garden is a rustic 
pergola seventy feet long, made of cedar 
posts cut from the woods on the farm, ten 
posts on a side, each post being set four 
feet deep. A string -piece of heavy chestnut 
rests on the tops of each row of posts. Cedar 
poles ten inches apart extend across the top 
and project two feet over each side. The 
pergola is eight feet wide and ten feet high, 
is easy to build and very effective. Care 
must be taken to set the posts at least four 
feet. At each post are planted a two - year - 
old root of Wistaria and one of Virginia 
Creeper, and I Uve in the hope of some 

183 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

day seeing the vines cover the pergola. 
The ground slopes gently where this is built, 
and the first autumn after it was made, it 
looked, from a little distance, so much like 
a section of an elevated railroad as to be 
very depressing. But one must possess imag- 
ination to be a gardener, and have the abihty 
to see the garden as it will look "next year." 
So I refused to see the pergola except as 
clothed with vines, and in May, with the 
beautiful racemes of Purple Wistaria hang- 
ing from every rafter. 

Patience and perseverance are traits neces- 
sary to the gardener. One must not be 
discouraged, but determined to succeed. If 
a set of plants die, or do not flourish this 
year, try them again next season, under 
different conditions, until the difficulties 
are overcome. 1 have known people who 
began gardening as a mere pastime when 
over forty years old, and who have told 
me what an absorbing interest it had become 
and how greatly it changed the whole aspect 

184 



SUN-DIAL— PERGOLA 

of life for them in the country. What 
a dehghtful tie, fondness for gardening makes 
between people! I know several men with 
beautiful places and lovely gardens in which 
they take the warmest personal interest. 
Whenever I meet one of them at din- 
ner, if by chance I am not seated next 
to him, I am unhappy and cannot listen 
sympathetically, either to the enthusiasm of 
the man on one side whose heart is, per- 
haps, bound up in golf, or to the laments of 
my neighbor on the other, who may be suf- 
fering from rheumatism or gout, and unable 
to eat or drink what he wants. 



185 



INSECTICIDES— TOOL-ROOM 



CHAPTER XV 

INSECTICIDES— TOOL-ROOM 

^I^HE enemies of growing things have 
certainly increased alarmingly of late 
years. I cannot recall that formerly any 
insect was to be found in either vegetable or 
flower garden, other than the potato bug, 
currant -worm, cabbage -worm, and the green 
worm and small black beetle on the Rose ; 
but now there are so many horrid creatures 
lying in wait until a plant is in perfection, 
to cut the stalk, or eat the root, or eat the 
pith from the stalk so that it falls, or to 
devour the leaves and eat the blossoms, 
that insecticides and a spraying machine are 
as necessary to a garden as a spade. For 
a small garden a spraying machine holding 
from a couple of quarts to a gallon, can be 
bought for a trifling sum, that will answer 

189 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

the purpose very well. For a larger garden, 
a good air-pump, costing from five dol- 
lars upwards, will be found an excellent 
investment. 

One of the best insecticides is Bordeaux 
mixture, which can either be bought or made. 
I have twenty-five gallons made at a time 
and keep it always on hand. The follow- 
ing is the receipe: 

Three pounds of blue vitriol in coarse crystals; 
three pounds of unslaked lime. Slake the lime 
in two and one-half gallons of water ; pour two and 
one-half gallons of water over the blue vitriol in 
another receptacle, and let both stand over night. 
In the morning stir the blue vitriol until all is dis- 
solved; then let two persons pour simultaneously 
the lime water and the blue vitriol into the same re- 
ceptacle, and add twenty gallons of water; stir 
well before fiUing the spraying machine. 

Bordeaux mixture is to be used for rust, 
mildew, and all kinds of blight, whenever 
the leaves of plants have a tendency to 
turn black. Hollyhocks seem to be univer- 
sally attacked by rust. Spraying the plants 
at the end of April, and again in the 
middle of May, should entirely prevent this. 

190 



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INSECTICIDES— TOOL-ROOM 

I have found that Bordeaux mixture prevents 
the leaves of Monkshood from turning black 
and falling off, if the plants are well sprayed 
with it about the middle of June and the 
first of July. 

Phloxes grown in rather shady places will, 
in damp weather, fall victims to mildew on 
the leaves. Spraying with Bordeaux mix- 
ture the end of June and middle of July 
should prevent this. Roses also have a ten- 
dency in warm, damp weather to mildew, 
which can be prevented by spraying the 
plants with Bordeaux mixture. 

Kerosene emulsion may also be prepared, 
and is excellent for killing, both the small 
green aphids that often cover the leaves of 
Roses, and other hard, scaly insects. Fol- 
lowing is the receipe: 

Put one cake of laundry soap shaved fine into one 
gallon of water. When dissolved, add two gallons 
of kerosene oil. This makes the emulsion. 

For spraying, use one quart of the emul- 
sion in fourteen quarts of water. Be sure 

191 



A WOMAN^S HARDY GARDEN 

that this is very thoroughly mixed before 
fiUing the sprayer. 

Powdered hellebore, if dissolved in the 
proportion of one pound of powder to one 
gallon of water, will destroy both the green 
worm on the Rose leaf and the small dark 
beetle that eats the Roses. It will also 
dispose of green worms on other plants. 

Slug -shot dissolved, one -half pound of 
powder to one gallon of water, will, if used 
the latter part of April and several times in 
May, keep the Roses comparatively free 
from insects. Slug- shot and hellebore may 
also be used dry and blown on to the plants 
with a bellows. 

I have used Hellebore in my garden for 
many years without harm to anything ex- 
cept the worms and beetles. But recently I 
heard of a lady who was severely poisoned 
in using dry Hellebore. The wind blew it 
into her face; perhaps some was inhaled, 
and serious illness resulted. I mention the 
fact here, to caution all who use it not to 

19^ 



INSECTICIDES— TOOL-ROOM 

let either the spray or the powder come in 
contact with the skin. Some persons may- 
be susceptible to the poison while others are 
not, — presenting a case of what the doctors 
call an "idiosyncrasy." 

Paris green, mixed in the proportion of 
two tablespoonfuls to three quarts of water 
and used as a spray, will destroy a beetle 
that sometimes appears upon the Gourd 
vines. 

Tobacco water will kill the black aphids 
which appear on the stems and leaves of 
hardy Chrysanthemums. It will also kill 
green aphids. This spray is made by fill- 
ing an ordinary pail lightly, not pressed 
down, with tobacco stems. Pour as much 
cold water into the pail as it will hold; 
let it stand for three hours, when it is 
ready to use in the spraying machine. This 
mixture will be good for only twenty -four 
hours. 

Tobacco spray will also destroy the large 
red aphid (I call it this for want of, per- 

193 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

haps, the proper name) that has recently ap- 
peared in some locahties upon the stems of 
the Rudbeckia (Golden Glow) and of the 
single hardy Sunflower, just below the 
blossom. 

The enemy of the Box is the white spider. 
The insect spins its web on the Box and 
works from the inside. If the branches are 
pulled aside, the inside of the plant will be 
found full of dead leaves in the vicinity 
of the web. Recently I read in a well- 
known gardening monthly, that this spider 
could be destroyed by spraying with kero- 
sene emulsion. I have some fine Box trees, 
and there were several white spider-webs on 
each. Watering with a very strong force of 
water had been tried without effect. Upon 
reading the article in the monthly and find- 
ing that the spider was certainly causing 
disaster which might be fatal, I proceeded 
to have the trees sprayed with kerosene 
emulsion, using it of the same strength as 
for Roses. In fact, the sprayer was not 

194 



INSECTICIDES— TOOL-ROOM 

re-filled, as there was enough left in it since 
last using it on the Roses. About three 
days after the Box had been sprayed, large, 
unsightly brown patches appeared on the 
trees, showing that the emulsion had killed 
the leaves wherever it touched them. The 
spider was not harmed. 

I mention this experience as an example 
of the danger of taking all the directions 
found in horticultural publications as gospel 
truth. Nor should an amateur gardener ever 
be tempted to trifle with plant medicines. 
I have a certain friend whose affection for 
her Roses is more profound than her knowl- 
edge of how to treat their natural diseases. 
Observing last summer that one of her most 
cherished Crimson Ramblers was covered 
with aphids, she concluded to spray it with 
"something." A bottle of carbolic acid being 
most available, she tested its merits at once. 
The efficacy of carbolic acid as a poison 
was proved beyond a doubt, for the insects 
became singularly dead in a day or two, and 

195 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

so did the leaves ; they fell off together. 
There was nothing left but the forlorn stems 
and branches, looking like some freak of the 
vegetable kingdom. 

TOOL-ROOM 

It is of the greatest importance to have 
a tool -room or closet according to the size 
of the place, and to require all implements 
to be kept there when not in actual use. 
There should be shelves across one end or 
side, where shears, trowels, garden cord, clip- | 
pers, watering-cans, mallet, various mixtures 
for spraying, oil -cans, keys for turning on 
the water, twine and all the smaller things 
one uses, may be found at a moment's notice. 
Garden sticks painted green, in three sizes, 
three and a half and four feet long, and 
five -eighths of an inch in diameter, and 
thicker ones an inch in diameter for Dah- 
lias, should be kept on hand in barrels. 
They can be bought of lumber - dealers 
in New York, where they are known as 

196 




^1 



INSECTICIDES— TOOL-ROOM 

"dowels/* They come in bundles of one 
hundred, costing from sixty cents to a 
dollar and twenty -five cents a bundle, ac- 
cording to size, unpainted, and the men 
can paint them on rainy days. The lawn 
mowers and the roller (which should be 
a heavy one) can also be kept in the 
tool -room. Rakes, both iron and wooden, 
hoes, spades and shovels, the latter both 
long -handled and short - handled, are best 
kept hung up along one side of the closet, 
where the men can see at a glance what 
they want. 

There should also be a pickaxe and a crow- 
bar for taking out refractory stones, and, 
most necessary of all things in a garden, 
the wheelbarrow should be kept here, too. 
A sickle and a scythe must not be forgotten. 

If the garden is large, a two-wheel tip- 
cart will prove a great saver of labor in 
carting manure and soil and in the removal 
of debris. 

On a particular shelf in my tool-room I 
197 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

keep my private trowel and flower scissors, to 
which are attached long red ribbons as a 
warning of "Hands off!" to others. There 
is also a clipper which I often use in walk- 
ing about to trim a bit here and there from 
a shrub or a chmbing Rose. 

If a scrap-book be kept, in which every- 
thing of interest pertaining to the garden 
can be pasted or written, it will be found a 
great help. In this way items about ferti- 
lizers, insecticides, special treatment of plants, 
with copies of lists ordered, can be pre- 
served, and also, most interesting of all, 
notes of when the different plants bloom 
each year. I find the following under date 
of October 18, 1901: 

"To-day, though ice has formed three 
times, I have filled nineteen vases with flowers. 
They are Phlox, Larkspur, Monkshood, 
Salvia, Nasturtium, Roses, Mignonette and 
Chrysanthemums." 

After trying many kinds of gloves for 
gardening, including the rubber ones, I now 

198 



INSECTICIDES— TOOL-ROOM 

use only old Suede gloves; they give suffi- 
cient covering and permit more freedom of 
movement to the hands and fingers than 
those of heavier material. It would be quite 
impossible to transplant tiny seedlings while 
wearing gloves with clumsy finger-tips. 

Unless a woman possesses a skin impervi- 
ous to wind and sun, she is apt to come 
through the summer looking as red and 
brown as an Indian ; and if one is often out 
in the glare, about the only headgear that 
can be worn to prevent this, is the old- 
fashioned sunbonnet. With its poke before 
and cape behind, protecting the neck, one 
really cannot become sunburned, and pink 
ones are not so bad. Retired behind its 
friendly shelter, you are somewhat deaf to the 
world ; and at the distant house, people may 
shout to you and bells be rung at you, and, 
if your occupation be engrossing, the excuse 
"no one can hear through a sun-bonnet," 
must be accepted. 



199 



CONCLUSION 



CHAPTER XVI 

CONCLUSION 

'THHE character of professional gardeners 
seems to be changing. They have be- 
come more perfunctory, more stubborn, more 
opinionated, until now it is a really serious 
question with them of "the danger of a 
little knowledge." To find a man who com- 
bines sobriety and a good disposition . with a 
fair knowledge of his business and a real 
liking for it, is a difficult matter. Where 
but one man is kept to care for vegetables, 
flowers and lawn, he is more than likely to 
have little interest beyond potatoes or corn, 
or to be good at raising small fruits, and to 
consider everything else he has to do as so 
much waste of time. When first married, 
one of our gardeners was a German who 
took no interest in flowers, and planted half 

203 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

the vegetable garden with "kohbabi" and 
"korn salad." We had never heard of these 
delicacies before, and did not care for them. 
I remember also his telling me that one 
kind of flower was enough to raise anyway. 

If a young man with an elementary knowl- 
edge of gardening can be found, who wants 
to learn, is strong, willing and intelligent, it 
is better to supply most of the brains your- 
self. You will find your own wishes more 
apt to be carried out than by the gardener 
who "knows it all," and seems to resent 
w^hat he calls "interference" on the part of 
his employer. 

I remember, when a child, seeing my 
father's gardener walking about in the early 
evening after his supper, smoking a medita- 
tive pipe, tying up Roses or spraying plants, 
and often setting out seedhngs after sun- 
down. He was never idle; he loved his 
work and attended to it. But now it is rare 
indeed to see a gardener, after hours, going 
about his work ; autre temps autres moeurs, 

204 




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CONCLUSION 

Remember always that it is the overcom- 
ing of the difficulties in the gardener's way, 
the determination to succeed, that gives zest 
to the occupation. Did everything planted 
grow and flourish, gardening would be too 
tame. Rust and blight, cutworms, rose- 
beetles and weeds, affi^rd the element of sport 
so attractive to us all. A lesson must be 
learned from every failure ; with renewed 
patience persevere until success is reached. 

I would make the strongest plea in favor 
of a garden to all those who are so fortu- 
nate as to possess any land at all. The 
relaxation from care and toil and the benefit 
to health are great, beyond belief, to those 
who may have to work with head or hands. 
If you can snatch a few minutes in early 
morning or late afternoon, to spend among 
the plants, life takes on a new aspect, health 
is improved, care is dissipated, and you get 
nearer to Nature, as God intended. 

If the rich and fashionable women of this 
country took more interest and spent more 

205 



A WOMAN'S HARDY GARDEN 

time in their gardens, and less in frivolity, 
fewer would suffer from nervous prostration, 
and the necessity for the multitude of sani- 
tariums would be avoided. 

Flower gardening is preeminently a wo- 
man's occupation and diversion. Nearly every 
great lady in England takes a personal inter- 
est in her gardens and conservatories, and 
knows all about the plants and flowers. 
Here, the majority of women having large 
places leave the direction of the flowers, as 
well as the vegetables and fruit, to the taste 
and discretion of the gardener, and thus miss 
a great and healthful pleasure. 

As a rule, young people do not care for 
gardening. They lack the necessary patience 
and perseverance. But in the years of mid- 
dle life, when one's sun is slowly setting 
and interest in the world and society relaxes, 
the garden, with its changing bloom, grows 
ever dearer. 



206 



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INDEX 



Aconitum NapelluSy 110. 
Altheas, 160. 
Ampelopsis Veitchiit 25. 
Anemone Japonica albat diffi- 
culty with, 61. 
Annuals — 

List, with height, colour and 
period of blooming, 88. 

Sowing, 78, 80. 

Transplanting, 86. 

[See also 7iames of flowers.] 
Antirrhinum, sowing, 80. 
Aquilegias, see Columbines. 
Asters — 

Destruction by beetle, 14, 81. 

Sowing, 80. 
Auratum lily, 139. 

Disappearance of bulb, 139. 

Price, 42. 
Autumn work in garden, 70- 

72. 
Azalea mollis^ perishabiUty of, 
13. 

Barberry as hedge, 51, 160. 
Bedding-out plants, 120. 

[See also names of plants.] 
Beds, rule for making, 16. 
Beetle destroying asters, 14, 81. 



Biennials, 117. 

[See also names of flowers.] 
Bone-meal, 73, 74. 
Bordeaux mixture, 190. 
Borders — 
Around house, 29. 
Blooming from May to Sep- 
tember, contents of bor- 
der, 69. 
Planting, 29, 40-44, 67. 
Short path and narrow bor- 
ders, 68. 
Small plot borders — 
Boundary lines of property, 

48-50. 
Cost, 44. 
Planting, 40-44. 
Boston ivy, 25. 
Box, white spider pest, 194. 
Box-edging, 177-178. 
Bulbs, purchasing and plant- 
ing, 40-44, 149-156. 

Calendula, 81. 
Calycanthus floridus^ 160. 
Campanula medium^ 117. 
Candytuft, planting, 46. 
Cannas, 48, 120, 122. 
Canterbury bells, 117, 120. 



211 



INDEX 



Cardinal Flower, transplanting, 

etc., 32. 
Centaurea, see Cornflower. 
Chrysanthemums, 43, 99. 
Clayey soil, lightening, 16. 
Clematis paniculata, 27. 
Climbing roses, 27, 131. 
Columbines, 41. 

Planting, 41. 

Sowing, 93. 
Coreopsis, 98. 
Cornflowers — 

Blooming, etc., 81. 

Planting, 46. 
Cosmos, sowing, 81. 
Cost, see Expense. 
Creepers, see Vines. 
Crocuses, 150. 

Daffodils, 41, 152-154. 
Dahlias, 120, 121. 

Cost, 47. 

Planting, 45. 

Storage, 47, 48. 
Delphiniums, 96. 
Digitalis, 117. 
Double yellow daffodils, 152- 

154. 
*' Dowels," 197. 

England — 

Gardening seasons, etc., 19. 

Gardens, small plots, 37. 
English ivy, 25. 
Everblooming roses, 127, 134. 
Evergreen shrubs, 167. 
Exchange of plants, 98, 99. 



Expense — 

Border planting, 40-44. 
Front beds, 47. 

Fall work in the garden, 70-72. 
Ferns — 

Border of, 29. 

Maidenhair haunts, 31. 

Planting, 32. 

Transplanting, 32. 

Watering, 173, 174. 
Flowers — 

Annuals, see that title. 

Gathering, extract from Eng- 
hsh book, 77. 

Perennials, see that title. 

[See also names of flowers.] 
Flower garden — 

Small plots of ground, 23, 37. 
Foxgloves, 117-120. 
France, small plots, 37. 
Front of the house, planting 

bed, 45. 
Funkia ccerulea, 142. 
Funkia subcordata, 142. 

Gaillardias, 104. 
German iris, 104. 
Gladioli, 120, 122, 126. 

Purchasing, 43. 

Storing, 47. 
Gloves for gardening, 198. 
Golden Glow, 46, 47, 111. 
Grandiflora, 98. 
Grass walks, 175-177. 
Graveled walks, 174-175, 
Ground, see Soil. 



n^ 



INDEX 



Hansoni, 142. 

Hardy roses, 127, 130. 

List of roses blooming in 
June and September, 133. 
Hedges — 

Beauty of, as fences, 30. 

Preparing ground for, 50. 

Quick screens, 67. 

Varieties, 50-51. 

[See also names^ Privet^ etc. ] 
Hellebore, 192. 
Hemlock spruce, 50. 
Henryi, 27. 
Hibiscus, 98. 
Hollyhocks, 94. 

Planting, 28, 68. 

Seeding, 58. 
House — 

Painting, 25-27. 

Plan of garden to suit style 
of house, 21. 

Vines, see that title. 
Hyacinths, 40, 154. 
Hybrid perpetual roses, 127. 

List of roses blooming in 
June and September, 
133. 
Hj/drangea paniculata, 160. 

Insects and insecticides, 189. 
Asters destroyed by beetle, 

14, 81. 
Bordeaux mixture, 190. 
Hellebore, 192. 
Kerosene emulsion, 191. 
Paris green, 192. 
Slug-shot. 192. 



Insects and insecticides- 
Tobacco water, 193. 
White spider on box, 194. 

Iris, 104, 173, 174. 

Ivy- 
Boston ivy, 25. 
English ivy, 25. 

Jackmani clematis, 27. 
Japanese barberry, 51, 160. 
Japanese iris, 104, 173, 174. 
Japanese hly, 142. 
Japanese tree peonies, 106. 
Japanese vines, planting, 28. 

Kerosene emulsion, 191. 

Laying out a garden — 

Beds in front of vines, 28. 

Borders, see that title. 

North side of house, 29. 

Plan of garden, suiting to 
style of house, 21. 

Soil, see that title. 

Vines, see that title. 

[See also names of Jlowers, 
etc.] 
Lilac, 164. 
Lilies, 139-146. 

Auratum lily, see that title. 

Border planting, 42. 

Planting, etc., 144-146. 

Watering, 173. 

[See also names, LiliuTn, etc. ] 
Lilium auratum, see Auratum 

lily. 
Lilium Canadense, 142. 



213 



INDEX 



Lilium candidum, 140. 
Lilkim longiflorum^ 141. 
Lilium speciosum albums 141. 
Lilium speciosum rubrum,, 141. 
Lily-of-the-valley, 143. 
London Pride, 110. 
Lychnis, 110. 

Maidenhair fern, haunts of, 

31. 
Mai Glocken, 143. 
Marigolds, 82. 
Meadow Uly, 142. 
Monkshood, 110. 
Moonflower, Japanese, 28. 
Morning-glory, Japanese, 28. 

Narcissus, 40, 152. 
Nasturtiums, planting, 79. 

Ordering plants, 65. 
Oriental poppies, 102. 

Painting of house and care of 

vines, 25-27. 
Pansies, carpeting rose - beds 

with, 84, 126. 
Paris green, 192. 
Peonies, 41, 105. 
Perennial vines and creepers, 

167. 
Perennials — 

Development, 52. 

List, with height, colour and 

time of blooming, 112. 
Planting, 49. 
Raising in seed-bed, 48, 57. 



Perennials — 

Seed-bed, see that title. 

Sowing seeds, 59, 93. 

Transplanting, 102. 

[See also names of perennials.] 
Pergola, 183-184. 
Pests, see Insects. 
Philadelphus syringa^ 165. 
Phlox, 82, 106, 111. 
Pinks, 102. 
Plan of garden, suiting to style 

of house, 21. 
Planting, 66-74. 

Borders, 29, 40-44, 67. 

Candytuft, 46. 

Cornflowers, 46. 

Dahhas, 45. 

Fall work, 70-72. 

Ferns, 32. 

HoUyhocks, 28, 68. 

Lilies, 144-146. 

Perennials, 49, 

Roses, 126, 127. 

Rows, 68, 69. 

Small plot, 37-54. 

Starting a garden, 21. 

Transplanting, see that title. 
Plants— 

Exchange, 98, 99. 

Ordering, 65. 

Unpacking, 65. 
Platycodon Mariesi, 96. 
Poeticus narcissus, 40, 152. 
Poppies, 102. 

Sowing, 78-79. 
Privet, purchase, etc., 51. 
Professional gardeners, 13, 203. 



^14 



INDEX 



Red-hot poker plant, 104. 
Rhododendrons — 

Planting and care of, 29-31. 
Watering, ITS, 174. 
Rockets, 98. 

Roots, purchasing, 40-44. 
Rose of Sharon, 160. 
Roses, 125-135. 
Best roses, list of, 131. 
Budded stock, 126. 
Carpeting rose - bed with 
pansies and gladioli, 84, 
126. 
Climbing, 27, 131. 
Everblooming, 127, 134. 
Exclusiveness, 125. 
Hardy, see that title. 
Hybrid Perpetual, see that 

title. 
List of hybrid perpetual and 
hardy roses blooming in 
June and September, 133. 
Planting, 126, 127. 
Replanting and cutting, 127, 
130. 
Rudbeckias, 28, 46, 47, 111. 

Salvia, 121. 

Scabiosa Caucasica, 109. 
Scarlet salvia, 121. 
Scrap-book, 198. 
Screens, quick, 67. 
Seed-bed — 

Empty, 62. 

Importance and satisfaction, 
48, 57. 

Preparing, 57. 



Seeds, sowing, 58. 
Setting of plants, 13. 
Shirley poppies, 78, 79. 
Shrubs, 159-168. 

Evergreen shrubs, 167. 

Growth from cuttings, 161, 
162. 

List of most satisfactory 
shrubs, 162. 

Planting, 50. 

[See also names of shrubs. ] 
Slug-shot, 192. 
Small plot, planting, 37-54. 

Borders, see that title. 

Front of the house, 45-48. 
Snowball, blight, 159. 
Snowdrops, 149. 
Soil — 

Beds, rules for making, 16. 

Clayey, lightening, 16. 

Manure, use of, 71-74. 

Preparation of, 13, 16, 20. 
Sowing — 

Annuals sown in seed-bed in 
spring, list of, 80. 

Seeds, 58. 
Spider on box, 194. 
Spring -flowering bulbs, 40-44, 

149-156. 
Starting a garden, 21. 
Sticks, " dowels," 196. 
Suburban gardens, 39. 
Sunbonnet, 199. 
Sun-dial, 181-183. 
Sweet Peas — 

Sowing, 83. 

TreUis, 84. 



215 



INDEX 



Sweet Williams, 95. 

Tigrinum, 142. 

Tobacco water, 193. 

Tools and tool-room, 196-199. 

Transplanting — 

Annuals, 86. 

Cardinal flower, 32. 

Fall work, 70-72. 

Ferns, 32. 

Perennials, 102. 
Tritomas, 104. 
Trumpet creeper, 25. 
Tulips, 41, 150. 

Unpacking plants, 65. 

Valerian, 99. 

Veronica longifolia^ 104. 
Vines and Creepers — 

Ampelopsis Veitchii, 25. 

Best annual vines, 168. 

Care of, 25. 



Vines and Creepers — 
Clematis ijaniculata, 27. 
English ivy, 25. 
Henryi, 27. 

Jackmani clematis, 27. 
Japanese vines, 28. 
North side of house, 29. 
Painting of house, 25-27. 
Perennials, 167. 
Planting, 23. 
Roses, climbing, 27, 131. 
Trumpet creeper, 25. 
Virginia creeper, 25. 

Walks, grass and graveled, 

174-177. 
Water supply and watering, 

171-174. 
Weeding, 87. 
White spider on box, 194. 

Yucca filamentosa^ 102. 

Zinnias, varieties of, 82. 

F. C. 



216 



SUN-DIALS AND 
ROSES OF YESTERDAY 

GARDEN DELIGHTS WHICH ARE HERE DISPLAYED 

IN VERY TRUTH AND ARE MOREOVER 

REGARDED AS EMBLEMS 

By ALICE MORSE EARLE 

Author of " Old Time Gardens," etc. 

Cloth. Crown 8vo. $2.50, net. Profusely Illustrated 

"One of the most charming books of this season ... is filled 
with beautiful garden scenes, where sun-dials of all sorts, simple 
and ornate, mark the sunny hours amid roses. A fine rose scroll, 
adapted from a design in a psalter of 1492, embellishes the title- 
page ; capitals taken from ancient and beautiful books enrich the 
chapter headings. AU this, apart from the interest of the infor- 
mation imparted with graceful tact and the enthusiasm of a 
student." — The New York Observer. 

"It is really surprising to see how much of history, biography, 
and even literary interest — to say nothing of mysticism, astrology 
and science — attaches to the subject of sun-dials. Mrs. Earle has 
the rare combination of two qualities — accuracy and thoroughness 
of research on the one hand, literary charm and story-telling in- 
terest on the other . . . The volume is beautifully illustrated, 
and altogether is one of the most pleasing books of the season." — 
The Outlook. 

"Mrs. Earle has long studied this dehghtful subject, and no 
one can read these charming pages without catching her enthusi- 
asm . . . The writer describes, in her own graceful way, the charm, 
sentiment and classification of dials, their history and associations, 
famous and picturesque ones still used, and tells how to make and 
place them in gardens, windows, on walls and on pedestals. So, 
with all its romance, the book is practical. There are innume- 
rable mottoes, poems and sentiments given, anecdotes and histori- 
cal incidents, and the dial is clothed in all its dignity and sentiment 
in these chapters." — Town ^ Country. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 



OLD-TIME GARDENS 

A BOOK OF THE SWEET o' THE YE A E 

By ALICE MORSE EARLE 

Author of "Home Life in Colonial Days," etc. 

Cloth. Crown 8vo. $2.50, net. 
Profusely Illustrated 

"A treatise which wiU be welcomed by all lovers of gardens and 
of literatm-e ... for the scholarly fragrance distilled by every 
chapter of a volume that may be worthily enshrined among the 
classics of gardening literature." 

— George H. Ellw anger, in the Book Buyer. 



*'It comes straight from the heart, and from a kindly heart at 
that. Mrs. Earle had the good fortune as a child to pass her sum- 
mers in an old-time garden. There she laid in a great store of 
knowledge of the ways of children among flowers, a store that she 
is now able to draw upon at will and in most delightful fashion, so 
that one of her best chapters is about childhood in a garden." 

— The New York Evening Post. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 



FLOWERS AND FERNS 
IN THEIR HAUNTS 

By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 

With illustrations from photographs by the author and 
J. HORACE McFARLAND 

Cloth. 19mo. $2.50, net. 

*' The reader of Mrs. "Wright's handsome volume will wend his 
way into a fairy world of loveliness, and find not only serious wild- 
wood lore, but poetry also, and sentiment and pictures of the pen 
that will stay with him through winter days of snow and ice . 
. . a careful and interesting companion, its many illustrations 
being particularly useful." — New York Tribune. 

"There is no question that this is a book in which you must 
be examined before you are fit to pass into the country." — New 
York Sun. 

" The illustrations are altogether worthy of the text ... a 
series of exquisite pictures of flowers and ferns." — London Daily 
News. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 



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